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No. d./^.i.'^c... 

DEPARTMCTk^F STATE. 

Alcove, 

Shklf, 



%, 



\/ 



V ' 

SKETCHES 

'^' or 

LOWER CANADA, 

HISTORICAL eiJVJ) DESCBIPTIVE; 

WITH THE author's RECOLLECTIONS OF 

THE SOIL, AND ASPECT; 

THE 

MORALS, HABITS, AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, 

OF 

THJIT ISOLATED COVJ^TRF; 

DURING 

A TOUR TO QUEBEC, 

IN THE MONTH OF JULY, 1817. 



BY JOSEPH SANSOM, ESQ. 

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 
AUTHOR OF LETTERS FROM EUROPE, &IC. 



Most JValional Habitudes are the Result of unobserved 
Causes and JVecessities. Gray. 

NEW-YORK: 
TRIRTED FOR KIRK Si MERCEIU. 

1817. 








Southern District of New-Yorlc, SS. 

BE IT REMEiMBERED, That on the twentieth day 
of September, in tlje forty-second year of the Independence 
of the United States "of America, Kirk k Mercein, of tlie 
said District, liave deposited in this. Office the title of a Boole, 
the right wiiereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words 
and figures followinfj to wit : 

" Sketches of Lower Canada, Historical and Descriptive'; 
with the Author's Recollections of the Soil and Aspect ; the 
Morals, Habits, and Religious Institutions, of that Isolated 
Country ; during a Tour to Quebec, in the month of July, 
1817. By Joseph Sansom, Esq. Member of the American 
Philosophical Society, Author of Letters from Europe, kc. 
Mosi Kalional Habitudes are the Result of unobserved Causes 
and J\'ecessil ies. G r a ^^ 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United 
States, entitled " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, 
by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the 
Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the time 
therein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled "an Act, 
supplementary to an Act entitled an Act for the encourage- 
ment of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, 
and Books, to tiie Authors and Proprietors of such co|)ies, 
during the times therein mentioned, and extending tiie 
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and 
etching historical and other jirints." 

ROBERT FLVN, Clerk of the 

Southern District of IVew-York 



\v. 



^ 







,V£) 



TO 

DEi WITT CililKTOK, 

GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, 

WORK 

IS 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED j 

A3 A TOKEN OF ESTEEM, 

FOB THJE SERVICES, WHICH HE HAS RENDERED, 

TO THE 

SCIENCE, AND LITERATURE, 

OF 

HIS COUJ^TEY. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



It is of importance that neighbouring Nations 
should be acquainted with each other, that they 
may form a just estimate of one &nothers friend- 
ship, or enmity; and, for this purpose they 
should see, as much as possible, with their owa 
eyes ; not through the medium of partial, or 
interested, Observers ; by whose wilful, or de- 
signing misrepresentations. Governments are 
often led into fatal errors, in estimating the 
temper, or the resources of each other. 

Who ean suppose that if England — the self- 
styled Mistress of the Ocean, had not been de- 
ceived by the disparaging Narratives of superfi- 
cial Travellers (happy in the gratification of 
National prejudice, at the expense of truth) she 
would have inconsiderately provoked an unne- 
cessary struggle, in which her gallant Navy for- 
A 2 



feited the reputation of nautical invincibility, 
in the eyes of all Europe ? 

We have hitherto had no accounts of Cana- 
da written by American Travellers. We have 
only seen our next Neighbours, through the 
magnifying glasses of superficial Observers ; 
who inverted the telescope, when they con- 
templated Independent America ; and we have 
accordingly no information, upon which we can 
rely, of the sentiments of the People, or the 
comparative situation, and future prospects of 
that Country. We know not whether the 
French, in Canada, are to be dreaded, as 
Enemies ; or conciliated as Friends. 

The Author of the following Work, when it 
was put to press (after having been hastily 
written, frqm penciled memorandums, during a 
fortnights stay at Ballstown and Saratoga) had 
no idea of any thing more than a simple Narra- 
tive of a Journey, during which some interest- 
ing circumstances had unexpectedly occurred j 
and the title, printed on the first page, is ac- 
cordingly " A Trip to Canada." But the 
Composition insensibly assuming a more his- 
torical and scientific form, in going through the 



press, amidst the Libraries of New- York, it was 
decided, in a Literary circle, at Dr. Hosack's, 
that the scope of the Work demanded a more 
elaborate designation : and the title has been ac- 
cordingly varied to that of " Sketches of 
Lower Canada, historical and descriptive ;" the 
discrepancy of which, with the style and matter 
of a Book of Travels, may possibly be ex- 
cused by the Learned ; in favour of the obvious 
occasion for more general views of Society 
on the American Continent, than have hitherto 
obtained, either at home, or abroad. 

New-York, Sept. 20th, 1817. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Outset from Philadelphia . , 

The City of New-York 

The Navigation of the North River 

Journey from Albany to Lake Charaplaia 

Lake Champlain 

Montreal .... 

Voyage down the St. Lawrence 

The Town of William Henry 

The Lake of St. Pierre 

The Town of Three Rivers 

General Montgomery , 

Quebec .... 

General Wolfe . . 

The Hotel Dieu 

The Cathedral of Quebec 

The Chapel of the Ursulines 

The General Hospital and the White Nuns 

J. B. Le Chevalier de St. Vallier, Bishop of Quebec 

The Legislature of Canada 

Pedestrian Excursion to the Falls of Montmorency 

The Indian Village of Loretto 

The first Bishop of Quebec 

The Climate of Canada 

Political Lucubrations 

Return t« Montreal by Land 



Page 1 
16 
23 
32 
37 
48 
50 
56 
58 
60 
63 
65 
69 
78 
83 
88 
92 
95 
97 
100 
118 
126 
129 
137 
147 



10 



Pointe aux Trembles 

Three Rivers, again 

The Commissioners at St. Regis 

Montreal, again 

The Church and Monastery of (he Recollets 

BJorth Western Trade 

The Foreign Trade of Canada 

Expenses of Govrnment 

The Chapel of the Dames Noirs 

The Grey Sisters, or General Hospital 

American Longevity 

The Cathedral of Montreal 

The Catholic Seminary 

Nelson's Pillar 

The Peasantry of Canada . 

Physiological Remarks 

Statistical Notices 

Circumstances unfavourable to 

Civil History of Canada 

The ancient Noblesse 

The President's Tour 

The Grand Canal of the Lakes 

The Rapids of the St. Lawrence 

Return to the United States 



Page 



Population 



15& 
163 
168 
187 
191 
197 
201 
202 
206 
211 
213 
213 
228 
234 
236 
237 
241 
246 
249 
287 
291 
293 
294 
300 



INDEX TO THE NOTES. 



Occurrences near Brunswick 15 

Accountof the City Hotel, at New-York - - 22 
Description of the new Steam Boat, Chancellor Liv- 
ingston 64 



11 



Geological reflections, occasioned by the Falls 

of Montmorency .... Page 105 

Descrii)tion of the River Saguenay ... nS 

Natural line of Demarcation, at Three Rivers - - 139 

The zeal of Lewis XIII. for converting the Indians - 147 

Solemn Representation of the Fall of Bonaparte - 170 

The Seigneurie of Gros Bois 176 

Description of the Bark Canoes employed in the 

North Western Trade 198 

Epitaph of JeannB Lebel - - - - - 210 
The Opinions of king David, and of the Philosopher 

Seneca respecting symbolic worship - - 221 

An Item of the Catholic Catechism ... 227 

Manner of holding Lands of the Seigneurs - - 247 

Description of tlie Banks of Newfoundland - - 250 

Memorable saying of a converted Indian - - 269 
Humorous account of the behaviour of the English 

to the Indians during the first Conquest of Canada 271 
The disgraceful Incursions of Generals Hull and 

Smyths 286 



THE APPENDIX. 



Natural History of the Beaver of Canada - No. I. 

Critical Observations upon Bouchettes Topographical 

Accountof Lower Canada - - - - II. 

Historical Memento of tlie Iroquois or Five Nations, 

oftheWest m; 



TRIP TO CANADA. 



Under the impressions hinted at 
in my prefatory remarks, at 3 o'clock 
P. M. on the 30th day of June, 1817, 
I stepped on board of the Bristol 
Steam Boat, at Market-Street wharf, 
"with a portmanteau containing nothing 
more than was absolutely necessary, a 
cane in my hand, and Thomson's Sea- 
sons in my pocket; but no other com- 
panions excepting such as I might meet 
with in the public conveyances, who 
may be not inaptly considered the Tour- 
ist's Family, as the Inn is said to be 
the Traveller's home. 



14 

We reached Bristol in due time and 
in perfect safety from moving accidents 
hyfire or floods notwithstanding the real- 
ly terrifying explosions that have late- 
o^^"- A^^x^r^ .^ ly happened on hoard of these accom- 
^^•*<-»_ yWiiix A-/t&>o |modatory conveyances, I having pur- 
^^ ^H-A^a^ Iposely avoided the superior expedition 
~ zjt / '^'^'^ '^Mvhich is promised by the Steam Boat 

' ^ ^/ T- j^tna, for the sake of ease and safety, 
'^f^-^'*^-^^^^^-iT^^^^^ tlj^ graduated force of what is 
*'*t*^K>£^-^/;f '*^*>f!5called the lower pressure, for whose 
^ ' — Secure operation we are inaebted to 

the late ingenious Robert Fulton of 
New-York. 



We started immediately from Bristol 
m the York Stage, one of the six or 
seven passengers being a Creole from 
New-Orleans, who had already travel- 
led in similar conveyances, fifteen hun- 
dred miles an end. 

We lodged at Princeton that night, 
entered the Steam Boat Sea Horse at 



15 

Elizabethtown-Point, and landed at 
New- York time enough to dine at the 
City-Hotel, a place of entertainment, 
little, if at all, inferior to the London 
Tavern, or the Red House at Frankfort, 
so much and so justly celebrated by 
European Travellers.* 

* Before entering Brunswick, or between that ancient 
town which ppesen'«s so much of the neatness and formal- 
ity of its primitive Inhabitants, and the delightful village of 
Newark^ which has been so often selected as the temporary 
residence of involuntary Refugees of quality, from diflferent 
parts of Europe ; as the driver lingered along the sands 
of Jersey, we passed by one tavern, the sign of the Union, 
and stopped to water at another under the same patronage . 
These people are great admirers of union, it would seem.. 
Said one of our company. Yes, replied I, they are so fond 
of union that they di-vide it. We had come on so very 
slowly, for the last few miles, that one had proposed to put 
n snapper upon the driver's whip, as we waited for him 
without quitting our seats ; and, he staid so long at the bar 
while the people of the house were sitting down to meat, 
•that another suspected he was going to breakfast there, 
and we should have to wait till he was done. That would 
be an unlucky snap for us, said I. He however presently 
came out again, and we drove off at an accellerated pace ; 
but, it v\'as not long before we snapped one of our jack-springs, 
and we were fain to crack our jokes with less merriment the 
rest of the way. 



16 



NEW-YORK. 



I SHALL not stop to describe the Bay 
of New-York, nor to make comparisons 
which might lead me to Naples, or Con- 
stantinople, though neither of those 
places unite the various advantages of 
sea and river communication ; and they 
must therefore yield, in point of con- 
venience, to the American Emporium — 
whatever superiority they may possess 
in expanse of water, or diversity of ob- 
jects the rich inheritance of a hun- 
dred ages. 

The Islands in the Bay of New-York, 
having been stripped of wood, are not 
very ornamental, and one of them, 
which has been fortitied, obstructs by 
a massy tower, the view which was for- 
merly enjoyed of the entrance called 
the narrows, through which whole fleets 
could be seen on their first entering the 



17 

Bay^ and before they approached the 
Basin ; where alone they are . now 
visible to a Spectator on the Battery 
— a promenade of health and pleasure 
always crowded of an evening with the 
familiar intercourse of Youth and Beau- 
ty amid the retiring Sons of business 
and care. The shores of Staten Island, 
and even those of the North River are 
too distant to admit the charm of dis- 
tinct variety, but those of Long-Island, 
as they stretch along toward the sound, 
are beautifully variegated with hills 
and valleys, woods and cultivated 
fields, near enough to gratify the eye 
with ideas of rural tranquillity, even 
from the busy Quays of a Sea Port Town. 

But as an Admirer of Architecture, I 
cannot pass without notice the City 
Hall, for the costly magnificence of 
which we are probably indebted to that 
National taste for the substantial, which 
B 2 



18 

induced the Dutch Ancestors of our 
New-York Burghers to erect, at Am- 
sterdam, a Fabric, upon piles, which is 
justly ranked among the first Public 
Edifices in Europe. 

The principal fi"ont, and two sides, 
are of white marble; the back-front, 
and the basement story, of free stone, of 
a reddish cast; both of which are 
found in quarries within a hundred miles 
of the spot. 

This noble Structure is two stories 
high, and it is ornamented with a Por- 
tico of eight columns, each hewn out 
of a single block, fifteen feet in length ; 
and Pilasters of the lonick and Corin- 
thian orders are carried round the 
building, with their appropriate enta- 
blatures — all executed in marble. 

The second Story shows nineteen 
windows in a row — the number of In- 



19 

diridual States at the time it was finish- 
ed. Thus tacitly marking the date of its 
erection. The five intercolumniations 
in the entrance, correspond to as many 
arcades, which open upon the Portico 
for egress and regress — like the arched 
doors, of equal number, belonging to 
its prototype in Holland. 

One of the fronts of that building (I 
cannot remember which) has a figure 
|of Atlas supporting the Globe — Admire 
this happy emblem of Dutch patience 
and perseverance. 

The New-York City Hall is two 
hundred feet long — eighty deep, in the 
projecting wings, which enclose a flight 
of twenty steps, sixty or eighty feet in 
length, for they are returned at the 
isides. It is sixty feet to the eaves, 
and tlie roof is surmounted by a Cu- 
ipola, ornamented with coupled columns, 



29 

and a Statue of Justice, with her sus- 
pended scales, at a height of ninety 
feet from the ground. 

In this Cupola a light is kept every 
ni«-ht, by a watchman who cries the 
hour, from this elevated situation : and 
gives the alarm in case of fire. 



I shall not describe the interior of 
this superb edifice, with its Circular 
Hall, and double Stair Case; with its 
columns, its balustrades, and its Dome. 
The Picture Gallery, or Hall of Audi- 
ence, hung with portraits of the Go- 
vernors of New-York, and the Presi- 
dents of the Union. Or the Council 
Chamber; ghttering with gold and scar- 
let : As I am not quite satisfied that so 
much splendour is consistent with prac- 
tical Republicanism; and we know that 
the Town Hall of Amsterdam has been 
alrcadij converted into the Palace of a 
Sovereign. 



21 

fn short, T am sufficiently supersti- 
tious in political omens, to dread the 
inference (however unlikely it may be 
thought — every where — but at Wash- 
ingtoti) that where there are Palaces, there 
will be Princes, 

But I can take a view of Broadway, 
without turning aside, as it is my road 
to the Hotel I put up at : 

] This beautiful avenue comes in strait 

I for a mile, lined on both sides with every 

I variety of Public and private Build- 

I ings — Churches, Halls, Houses, many 

1 of^ which are ornamented with taste : 

! Shops, in which every necessary, and 

j every luxury of life are displayed, with 

I elegance and splendour. After it has 

j passed the Stadt House above mention- 

j ed, which by the way is now sadly ob- 

] scured by ragged trees which entirely 

j prevent a front view — They might be 



22 

readily exchanged for a neat clump of 
two, at distant intervals, leaving from 
the street an uninterrupted view of the 
Structure in different directions. 

The Street now winds to the left, and 
gradually widens until it opens upon 
the water, after forming a triangular 
plot which is railed in with an iron 
balustrade, and once exhibited a Statue 
of King George. This was removed 
at the Revolution — but the pedestal re- 
mains, and it is hoped that it will not 
be long before the liberal and patriotic 
Citizens of New-York shall replace 
the historical Monument with — another 
George — far better entitled than the 
former to the veneration of Posterity.* 

* Of the extent and accommodations of the superb Inn 
before mentioned some idea, may be formed, by the sum 
which has been just laid out upon furnishing, and fitting it 
up, for the use of the present Tenant. It was not less tbaa 
thirty thousand dollars, and he pays for it the liberal rent 
of ten thousand dollars a voar. 



ss 



THE NORTH RIVER. 

Next day I took my passage for Al- 
bany in the Paragon, or the Car of 
Neptune, I forget which — but any of the 

j Family Parties are provided for in a distinct part of tiie 

, Establishment, with the use of elegant drawing rooms ; and 

Public entertainments are given, occasionally, in apartments 

of magnificent dimensions, on the principal floor : but at the 

Table d' Holt the fare is excellent, and ahundred Persons sit 

' down there every day, in the summer sea;5on ; when New- 

j York becomes the grand thoroughfare between the South 

I and the North, during the stated migration of the Gentiy of 

the Southern States, toward Ihe more salutary regions of 

I New England, and the Canadian Provinces, where the heat 

j of summer is comparatively temperate, and to a Southern 

j Constitution highly invigorating. 

I Here the Scotchman of Detroit, and the Frenchman of 
' New Orleans, from the borders of Lake Huron and the 
BanksofUie Mississippi — when at home not less than twa 
1 thousand miles apart, meet each other half way, upon com- 
mon ground, as American Citizens, professing allegiance to 
j the Constituted Authorities of the same Republic. 
I And the Occupant of central woods and waters here 
j shakes hands and interchanges sentiment and information, 
with Brother Saiior*; who seek a livelihood upon the east- 
I em coeists of the Atlantic, penetrate every nook and corner 
; in the Baltic, or the Mediterranean, or doubling either Cape 
rausack the Antipodes for objects of CoHimcrcial enterprise-. 



24 

Steam Boats of the North River are 
justly entitled to either of these proud 
appellations. — Since theyproceed — not, 
wind and iceather perTtiitting^ like all an- 
terior Navigators : but against wind and 
tide, at the rate of seven or eight miles 
an hour. And they are not exceeded 
in one of their dimensions — that of 
length by a Ship of the Line. 

We left the dock about 5 in the even- 
ing, and the next day, about noon, as I 
was leaning over the prow, and contem- 
plating alternately the moving land- 
scape on either hand, and the water 
over which we were imperceptibly gli- 
ding, I perceived something forward that 
looked like slender spires, at the head 
and foot of a distant hill. It was Alba- 
ny, and by 3 o'clock we stepped ashore 
again, one hundred and sixty miles 
north of the Capital, which we had 
quitted but twenty-two hours before. 



2^ 

The distance, I am told, has been run 
down the stream, in seventeen hours ^ 
formerly an uncertain voyage of three 
or four days, or a week or two, accord- 
ing to the state of the winds and tides. 

A few miles before we reached Alba- 
ny, we met the Chancellor Livingston, 
said to be the finest boat on the River. 
She looked indeed very gay upon ♦he 
water. We passed each other with the 
most animating rapidity, and the ad- 
verse motion of two such vessels, breast- 
ing the surge, in a narrow part of the 
river, made a sensible concussion of the 
•waves, from shore to shore.* 



* On my return, a month afterward, this same vessel, 
the Chancellor Livingston, which had just brought up two 
hundred Passengers, in nineteen hours, was in course, to go 
down the stream. There had been a freshet in the river, 
rvhich is here about three hundred yards over: yet this fine 
ship (one hundred and fifty-seven feet long) seemed to 
requ-re the whole space to turn in, as she swung round from 
the wharf, in majestic evolution, and when she began to 



2b 

The influx of multitudea on board 
these boats, arriving in crowds, on foot^ 
and in carriages; their punctuality of 
departure, which often leaves lingerers 
upon the wharf, to follow, as they can, 
in boats, which are always ready to 
put off after them; together with the 
unvarying steadiness of their progress, 
admitting of the most entire independ- 
ence, and the most unobstructed ob- 
servation — whether of moving life, per- 
petually flitting before your eyes ; or of 

descend the stream, which was now unusually rapid, her 
motion seemed to sway the river, and command the current. 
The wake of a ship measuring five hundred tons, and pro- 
ceeding at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour (for we 
reached Hudson, which is thirty miles, in two hours and 
three-quarters) soon spread itself from side to side, and pro- 
duced a visible agitation upon both shores of the river. — 
The sea-boats which ply in Long Island ^ound sometimes 
make thirteen knots an hour ; but one is aecustomed v> 
flying at Sea, and the receding shores of a river p" > % 
stronger sensation of rapidity, by the comparisor . rh 
they afiFord with the apparent motion of stationa >^i^^ 

She cost one hundred and ten thousand dollars, > 

times makes for ber owners fifteen hundred doUa 



27 

the face of Nature, ever calm and ma«^ 
jestic, yet alternately rising and reced- 
ing in perpetual variation, keep the 
mind in a state of animating excite- 
ment. 

A constant change of Company is 
perpetually going on, in this little world. 
Some getting out at every great town, 
or noted landing-place, and others 
coming in ; but all this is managed with 
little or no delay of the moving Ark, by 
merely slackening her course, and low- 
ering a boat, which discharges her bur- 
then with astonishing dexterity, and — 
to me, terrifying speed. 

There is another circumstance of 
communication with the adjacent shores, 
which takes place occasionally— Nothing 
is wanted but an exchange of papers, for 
instance — A boat puts off from the 
shore, and at the same instant, another 



25 

boat quits the vessel. Tliey meet, as 
it were on the wing, for the speed of 
the Steam Boat is not now at all im- 
peded to favour the operation, and it 
takes place between the passing Water- 
men, in the twinkling of an eye. 

The animating bugle gives notice of 
approach, and the bell rings for depar- 
ture. Every thing concurs to create 
bustle and interest. People of the first 
consequence are often among the Pas- 
sengers; amidst whom they can lay 
claim to no peculiar privilege, or ac- 
commodation. The only exception is 
in favour of the Ladies; who have a 
cabin to themselves, where Gentlemen 
are not permitted to intrude. ' 

By-Laws are enacted for the pre- 
servation of order, and the forfeiture? 
incurred are scrnpulously exacted. 



29 

Therie were no persons of particular 
note on this voyage, nor any of those 
amusing characters styled great talkers 
—one or more of whom is generally to 
be found in ail companies, who volunta- 
rily, and ex mero motu,\ take upon them- 
selves the task of entertaining the silent 
part of their species. 

On a former occasion, I had been 
highly diverted by a Son of Chief Jus- 
lice Jay — himself a limb of the law, to 
enforce the laws and usages of the 
Steam Boat, with all the affected for- 
malities of legal process. Under his 
humorous arrangement, the offender was 
put to the bar. Witnesses appeared, 
and Counsel, on both sides, pleaded 
the merits of the case — not to be sure 
with all the gravity and decorum which 
are laudably observed in cases of high 
crimes and misdemeanors ; but with suffi- 
cient acuteness and pertinacity. What 
c 2 



30 

was wanting in solemnity was made up 
in laughter, and I remember young Jay 
kept the quarter deck in a continual 
roar. 

I have ever since regretted that I did 
not preserve a sketch of his opening 
speech, which was introduced with all 
the precision of serious argument. — 
Several Persons of note were then 
present. I recollect particularly Go- 
vernor Lewis. Some of the Morrises 
from Morrisania, and the Lady of a 
former Governor of South Carolina. 

Ferry boats, propelled by steam, and 
so constructed that carriages drive in 
and out, at pleasure, may be observed 
at every large town on the North River. 
These convenient vehicles are likely to 
supersede the use of bridges, on navi- 
gable waters. They are in fact a sort 
of fiying bridge^ with this advantage 



31 

even over the numerous and costly 
Structures of that kind, whicli now 
span the broad surface of the Susque- 
hannah, in the interior of Pennsylvania. 
They do not require such expensive 
repairs, and they may be secured from 
the effects of sudden floods : but what 
is of far more importance, they present 
no obstruction to the stream, and are 
no hindrance to navigation. 

The Shores of the North River, su- 
blime as they are, where the Allegheny 
mountains must have crossed from west 
to east, before the lofty chain was bro- 
ken through, to admit the passage of 
the River (the sight of which is unfor- 
tunately lost to Travellers by the 
Steam Boats running through the Nar- 
rows in the night) owe much of their 
interest and beauty to the superb Seats 
of the Livingstons and the Clintons, 
some of which overhang the water, at 
an imposing elevation. Spectators 



32 

from these mostly line the bluffs, at the 
passage of the Steam Boats, which seem 
to electrify every thing within their 
sphere. And the antiquated Mansions 
of the ScHUYLERS and Van Rensselaers, 
in the vicinity of Albany, are beheld 
with historic recollections, as the places 
where General Burgoyne, and his prin- 
cipal Officers, were quartered, until 
they could be exchanged, after the me- 
morable defeat at Saratoga. 

FROM 

ALBANY TO LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

Thb next day after our arrival at 
Albany was the 4th of July; and the 
good Citizens of Albany were preparing 
to celebrate the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence — not as Weld ridiculously 
represents, from the information of his 
Host, as if they rejoiced against the 
grain ; regretting in their hearts the 
protection of Great Britain; but with 



33 

all the zeal and fervour of heart-felt 
exultation, for the incalculable advan- 
tages of National independence, and 
emancipation from a Foreign yoke. 

But I was now become earnest to 
reach Canada. 

I had intended to take Ballston on 
my way, for the benefit of the Mineral 
waters, for which that place, and its vi- 
cinity have become eo cplebrated, since 
Sir William Johnson was conducted 
hither by the Indians in the year 1767, 
to drink the water of the Rock spring 
for the removal of the gout to which he 
was subject. But my mind I found was 
now too much engaged in the ultimate 
objects of pursuit to admit of turn- 
ing aside, at this period of the journey. 

So, finding myself in time for the 
next Steam Boat, on Lake Champiain, 
at 10 o'clock, instead of going to hear 



34 

a historical oration from some patriotic 
Burgher of Plait Deutch^ descent, I took 
my seat in another Stage Coach ; lodg- 
ed, I forget where ; and reached White- 
Hall, about noon ; an hour or two before 
the putting off of the Steam Boat for St 
Johns, the tirst town, or rather village, 
in Canada. 

By the way this Wiiitehall is not a 
Royal Palace, nor even a Gentleman's 
Seat; but a small post town at the 
mouth of Wood Creek. It is the same 
that was called Skeensborough (Query, 
why change the name ?) when Weld 
wrote his ingenious comparisons be- 
tween Canada and the United States 
and fearlessly quoted General W^ash- 
INGTON, as his authority, for the palpable 
falsehood that the musquitoes of this 
place would bite through the thickest 
boot — The musquitoes have since ut- 
terly vanished — stings and all; and 
they would have been quietly forgotten, 



35 

together with the fire flica, and bull 
frogs, and supposed rattle snakes of 
other Transatlantic Peregrinators, in 
American Wilds, if it had not been for 
this contemptible story — preserved, like 
bugs in amber, by their unaccountable 
conjunction with the pellucid name of 
Washington. — Rattle snakes are alrea- 
dy so rare in America, that I, who have 
travelled thousands of miles in our back 
country, never met with but one of 
them ; and no doubt they will become 
in another century as scarce, as snakes 
are said to be in Ireland, through the 
interference of St. Patrick ; though the 
fact may very well have happened, 
without a miracle, since Ireland has 
been peopled for thousands of years, 
and every Peasant has a hog or two, to 
whom snakes are a favourite repast. 

But before I take boat, let me recall 
the village of Schagticoke, which was 



3G 

passed on the road, somewhere about 
midway — the never enough celebrated 
berg or dorff from which the Cervantic 
genius Knickerbocker, in his incompa- 
rable History of New-York, derives his 
pretended pedigree. The scattered 
houses of which it consists are built in 
nooks and crannies round the yaw^ning 
gulf of a roaring cataract, which de- 
scends, between jutting rocks, and 
craggy pines ; w ith as many tw ists and 
turns, and as much of spray and splut- 
ter, as the never to be forgotten work 
itself proceeds under its characteristic 
motto : 



Die wahrheit die in dunster lag, 
Da kommt mit klahrheit an den tag* 

The truth Avhich late in darkness lay 
Now breaks with clearness into day 



Or perhaps better: 



Truths which lay hid in daikest nig%t 
My pen shall bring again to light. 



3T 



LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

To return to the Steam Boat, on 
Lake Champlain, though it is greatly 
inferior, in size, and accommodation, to 
those on the North River ; (at least so 
was the boat whicli conveyed me, but a 
new one has 'just commenced running, 
which is said to excel them in elegance 
and speed) yet it will bear a compari- 
son, even with the English Post Chaise, 
or any other mode of easy and rapid 
conveyance; in despite of Dr. Johnson's 
ipse dixit ^ that life had few things better to 
boast than riding in a post chaise— h^- 
cause if I remember right, there tvas 
motion or change of place without fatigue ; 
since to these agreeable circumstances 
the Steam Boat adds the conveniencies 
of a tavern, of which Johnson was so 
fond, and the advantage of a bed at 
night, without loss of time. 

D 



38 

The Creek, as we call such waters, 
or to use the English phrase, the river, 
winds round broken crags, shagged 
with fir trees, for many miles, before it 
becomes more than just wide enough 
for the Steam Boats to veer round in. 
Yet in a gloomy cove, near the harbour, 
sufficient space has been found to moor 
the five or six sloops of w&r that were 
taken from Commodore Downie upon 
this Lake, 

Toward evening we entered Cham- 
plain Proper. The Lake gradually 
widened to an expanse of fifteen or 
twenty miles, and the sun set, glorious- 
ly, behind golden clouds, and moun- 
tains of azure blue, whose waving out- 
line, at an elevated height, was finely 
contrasted by the dark stripe of pines 
and firs, that here lines the unvarying 
level of the western shore. 



39 

Tlie solemnity of the scene was 
lieiglitened with indistinct ideas 
of Burgoyne's disastrous descent in 
1777 — of the melancholy fate of the 
lirst Lord Howe in the year 1759, and 
of anterior scenes of massacre and 
horror which rendered the sonorous 
name of Ticonderoga terrific to our 
peaceful Ancestors— after passing the 
nuns grey of this dilapidated fortress 
(the French called it elegantly Carillon 
from the hub-bub usually kept up there 
in time of war) and those of Crown 
Point (called by them Fort la Cheve- 
lure or the scalping place) a barbarous 
denomination which the English melted 
down into Crown Point, still indicative 
of the same savage practice. 

1 awoke in the night under these 
solemn recollections; and the morning 
star was shining in, with perceptible re- 
flection, at the little window of my 
birth. It is now peculiarly brilliant, 



40 

and I was forcibly impressed with a 
sense of God's providence, for the bene- 
fit of his creature Man, especially when 
travelling upon the waters, when his 
journeys must be pursued by night, as 
well as by day. 

And here let me observe, that during 
travel, the spirits are renewed, as well 
as the body invigorated. The energies 
of the mind, so often latent, through in- 
activity, are called into action, by dan- 
gers and difficulties, which it requires un- 
remitting watchfulness to steer through, 
or to shun; and the habitual inatten- 
tion under which, safe within the walls 
of cities, an accustomed face is beheld 
without notice, and a next door neigh- 
bour passes by unknown, is necessarily 
exchanged for the active exercise of 
observation and inquiry. 

In another point of view too, occa- 
sional journeys, especially into ForeigL 



41 

Countries, creating a total change of 
scene and habits, may he said to 
lengthen the sense of existence, if they 
do not actually prolong life. So many 
changes of hahit occur, and such a va- 
riety of unusual circumstances takes 
place, that the recollection of a few 
months, passed abroad, seems equal, in 
the memory, to the lapse of years, spent 
in the unvarying monotony of home. 

The suhlime operations of nature, 
which are rarely attended to amidst 
the incessant occupations of domes- 
tic care, force themselves upon a 
Traveller's observation, disengaged as 
he is from the daily concerns of com- 
mon life. — He now feels his dependence 
upon the varying atmosphere, and re- 
marks, perhaps for the first time, the 
subservience of the celestial luminaries 
to the occasions of life. 
d2 



42 

When the moon rises to illuminate his 
path, as the sun sets in the west, which 
it does with such evident co-operation^ 
whenever the moon is at full ; he can 
hardly fail to be touched with admira- 
tion, and gratitude, at the splendid pro- 
vision of which he stands so much in 
need. — He can but feel, with conscious 
elevation, the dignity of his being, as a 
creature of God, when, 

Seas roll to waft him, suns to light him rise ; 
His footstool earth, his canopy the skies. 

Yet is there ample occasion, on the 
face of Nature, for humbling considera- 
tions of the littleness of Man, and all 
his works, in comparison of the wide 
spread surface of the planet we inhabit. 
Inadequate must needs be the ideas of 
a Man who, confined for life within the 
streets of cities, has never seen an ex- 
tensive horizon, or beheld those raajes- 



43 

tic features of the Earth, a Mountain, or 
a Lake — No Man that has not travel- 
led a day's journey on foot, nor ever 
lost his way in trackless wilds, when 
spent with hunger and fatigue, can have 
a competent idea of the spaces that 
intervene between town and town, 
sometimes between one human habita- 
tion and another. 

We must have seen a good deal of 
the Globe we inhabit to form any just 
notion of the overwhelming extent of 
its surface in proportion to the pigmy 
race, to whom animal nature has been 
subjected, by the Creator of all things. 
And after all the imagination is un- 
avoidably confounded, amidst the bound- 
less sands which occupy the internal 
parts of Africa, and Asia. It has often 
revived my own humility to span their 
extent upon the maps in my study. 
And when I compare the desert of 
Zaarah, for instance, with the Island of 



44 

Great Britain, and perceive that in its 
vacant spaces there would be room for 
ten such islands, with all its Millions oi" 
civilized Inhabitants, I am ready to ex- 
claim, with Job — 

Lord ! wliat is Man, that thou shoiildest set tliine heart 

upon him ? 
And that thou shouldest visit him everj' morning, 
And try him every moment ? 

Having passed Burlington, the Capi- 
tal of Vermont, in the night, next morn- 
ing, after breakfast, we were called up 
to see the British flag flying at Illinois 
(Isle aux Noix as the French call it) 
and his Majesty's crown over the gate 
way, at the stairs leading to the officers' 
house; a handsome building, with 
rather a phantastic air, from being built 
of squared logs painted in alternate 
stripes of white and grey. Green Va- 
randas as light as gossamer, in the cen- 
tre, and at each end. The whole sur- 
mounted with a heavy pediment, and a 



45 

tinned Cupola, the openings of which 
are glazed to make it a comfortable 
look-out. 

I observed nothing particular in the 
fortifications at Illinois; but a sweet 
little Cottage struck my eye, as we 
passed, connected with a string of con- 
venient out houses, a little garden be- 
fore them, running to the water's edge, 
with covered seats, of elegant simplici- 
ty; in which, in all probability, some 
British Officer, and the fair Companion 
of his voluntary exile, indulge their re- 
collection of happier auspices, and a 
forsaken home. 

As we ran by the place, a boat put 
off to exchange papers, with three young 
Marines, in Scotch bonnets, and trim 
uniforms, to whom our Captain threw a 
rope ; but so little dexterous were they 
in managing it, that they had like to 
have overset the boat, before they 



46 

reached us. Tliey were however in- 
sensible of their danger, and I remember 
one of them showed a very fine get of 
teeth, as he laughed, with the Bystand- 
ers, at his own absurdity. — 

Enough — perhaps too much of Illi- 
nois. 

By noon we reached St. Johns, of 
which still less may serve, and we did 
but drive through it for La Prairie. — 
A considerable town on the St. Law- 
rence, nine miles above Montreal. 

The rest of the Company, among 
whom were several Ladies, from Caro- 
lina, crossed directly over, in a driz- 
zling rain ; but I, being no longer im- 
patient of delay, as this is a considera- 
ble town, of long standing, with a large 
French Church, and other public es- 
tablishments, stayed over night; and 
slept, though it was midsummer, under 



47 



I know not how many blankets, in a 
bed close hung with worsted curtains, 
in flaming red. 

I. was now ready to doubt whether it 
ever was what we call hot, in Canada ; 
but I had occasion afterward to change 
my mind, upon that score, as well as 
some others, as will be seen in due time. 
Rapid Travellers are apt to be hasty 
in forming their conclusions, of which 
in course plodding Critics take notice, 
at their leisure; without making one 
grain of allowance for the innumerable 
perplexities, and contrarieties, through 
which we have to pick our way, in the 
research of truth. 

Next morning the sun glittered upon 
the tinned spires and plated roofs of 
Montreal, Uiany of them being sheathed 
with sheet iron. I was told that the 
passage, by water, was tedious, and. 



48 

that a waggon would convey me mucU 
quicker to the ferry opposite the town. 
I went on accordingly to Longeuil, and 
crossed over from thence, in a canoe, 
which was managed by two diminutive 
Canadians, with Indian paddles. 

MONTREAL 

shows from the water like an old coun- 
try Sea Port, with long ranges of high 
walls, and stone houses, overtopped 
here and there, by Churches, and Con- 
vents; with something that resembles 
a continued Quay, though it is nothing 
more than a high bank, to which large 
vessels can lie close enough for the 
purposes of loading and unloading ; in 
consequence of the unusual depth of 
water at the very edge of the current, 
which sets close in shore from an op- 
posite Island, and a string of rocks and 
shoals, which obstructs it on the opposite 
side. 



49 

I took a hasty dinner, glanced at the 
Pubhc Buildings, which I had seen 
before, and walked the streets till night ; 
when the principal avenue, in which is 
the Cathedral, was lighted up, before 
dark, in the English manner, the twi- 
light being almost as long here, as it is 
there. I then took up my lodging on 
board the Steam Boat, for Quebec, 
which was to sail next morning at 3 
o'clock. For I had now a mind to see 
in how short a time one might make 
a total change of Religion, language, 
Government, and climate, in quitting 
the Metropolis of the United States, 
for that of the British Provinces. 

It was now but the 8th day from my 
leaving Philadelphia, and there was a 
chance that I might reach Quebec on 
the 9th (July 8th) the current of the 
St. Lawrence being often so power- 
ful, that, when the wind favours, this 
passage of 170 miles, is sometimes 

E 



50 

made in seventeen hours, in sea phrase 
ten knots an hour, arriving at Quebec, 
in summer time, by sunset the same day. 

voir AGE 

DOWN TIIE ST. LAWRENCE. 

I WAS not now in luck, if I may be al- 
lowed the phrase, or to speak with be- 
coming dignity of a voyage upon the St. 
Lawrence, the wind was right ahead, 
and blew strong from the North East, 
with occasional squalls of rain, through 
the day, and the following night ; and I 
was glad to come off with two tedious 
and wearisome nights, spent at sea, to 
all usual intents and purposes, of sea- 
faring life, such as incommodities of 
every kind, apprehension of danger, 
disinclination to stir hand or foot, and 
irremediable delay. But I am antici- 
pating events, and ought perhaps to 
have kept the Header in that happy 
state of suspense, under which we 



31 



usually advance to the most dangerous, 
or disagreeable adventures, without ap- 
prehension, or reluctance. 

First then, of the first. After passing 
the night under an incessant trampling, 
and rummaging, overhead, the Boat- 
men being at work all night, stowing 
away heavy freight, and clearing the 
decks of luggage : for the Steam Boats 
of the St. Lawrence, are as much used 
for the conveyance of freight, as of Pas- 
sengers. I awoke an hour or two after 
day light, some leagues below Montreal. 

The great Church of Varennes, with 
its two steeples, yi^as distinctly visible, 
together with the isolated mountain, 
which rises near Boucherville, in the 
midst of surrounding plains : but every 
other object was at such an immeasur- 
able distance, for river scenery, that I 
was much disappointed of the boasted 
appearance of towns, and villages, and 



o2 

icaltered hamlets, upon the banks of 
the St. Lawrence — said to exceed so 
far, in use and beauty, the scanty im- 
proveraents upon the North River. 

It is true that the occasional spires of 
the Parish Churches would be neces- 
sarily beautiful, if as they are described 
by fanciful Travellers, (fatigued by the 
repetition of substantial Mills and Meet- 
ing Houses in the United States,) they 
were actually seen peeping over trees 
and woods: but the trees are all cut 
away round Canadian settlements, and 
the unvarying habitations, stand in end- 
less rows, at equal distances, like so 
many sentry boxes or soldiers' tents, 
without a tree, or even a fence of any 
kind to shelter them; instead of being 
irregularly interspersed, as with us, 
among tields and woods, surrounded 
with every variety of domestic accom- 
modation, and collected, every ten or 
twelve miles into hamlets, or trading 



53 

towns," of which there are fifteen or 
twenty, upon tlie North River, whilst 
there are but four, in the like space, 
upon the River St. Lawrence, including 
Quebec and Montreal. 

These circumstances admit of no 
comparison, between the two rivers, 
and the improvements on their banks, 
in point of interest or effect. Still less 
with those of the Delaware, from Tren- 
ton to New Castle, where, in less than 
half the distance, beside innumerable 
farm houses, and country seats, we have 
the cities of Trenton, Burlington, Phila- 
delphia, and Wilmington ; and the beau- 
tiful towns of Bordentown, Bristol, Ches- 
ter, and New Castle ; together with a 
like number of inland villages, in dis- 
tant perspective ; literally surrounded 
with orchards and gardens, and fre- 
quently ornamented with modest spires, 
or rather cupolas ; which are not to be 
E 2 



54 

sure so favourable to display, half con- 
cealed as they are by neighbouring 
woods. 

Yet this is the only point of view, in 
which any comparison at all can be sup- 
ported between the two Countries : for 
it is only on the banks of its rivers, that 
Canada pretends to any population, or 
improvement, whatever; whereas with 
us the cheering 



• Tract and blest abode of Man, 



is scattered, more or less, over the 
whole surface of the soil, by hardy Ad- 
venturers, who are not afraid to quit 
their native hearths, in quest of the most 
distant establishments. And we have in- 
land towns little inferior in population 
to the Capital of Canada. 

It is but fair to observe, however, that 
the mode of settling upoa the River St. 



5b 

Lawrence, seems pointed out by Na- 
ture, in this region of perennial snow. 
It would have been diilicult for Ii^liabi- 
tants, far removed from each other, to 
have kept their roads open in winter; 
and they must have passed the season, 
hke so many bears, sucking their paws, 
if they had been separated from each 
other by hills and hollows t but, in many 
places, the banks of this mighty stream 
would seem to have been formed, by 
its waters, into different levels, running 
parallel with its course. Upon these 
levels, the First Settlers found it con- 
venient to establish themselves, in lines, 
whose communication could be readily 
preserved.. — 

At the island of Kamouraska some 
distance below that of New Orleans 
the appearance of the neighbouring 
heights is said to indicate unequivocal- 
ly that the bed of the St. Lawrence 
was there once at a much higher level 



5Q 

than that which it now occupies, a cir- 
cumstance which corroborates the pre- 
sumption that these ridges have been 
originally formed by the ancient current 
of the river. 

THE TOWN OF WILLIAM IIENRY. 

We came too about 10 in the morn- 
ing, at the town of William Henry, on 
the right bank of the River Sorel, which 
forms the outlet of Lake Champlain ; 
for the purpose of taking in wood, of 
which article there is a very rapid con- 
sumption, on board of Steam Boats. 

As we approached the wharf, all the 
people in the place seemed to be taking 
post at the landing. Among the fore- 
most came puffing a good humoured 
looking mortal, genteelly drest, of that 
description of bipeds that are said to 
laugh and be fat. He is currently 
known, it seems, by the name of Sir 
John Falstaif, and thus, like his proto- 



57 

tjpe, of facetious memory, if he be not 
witty himself he is oftentimes the cause 
q/ wit in others. 

Sir James Sherbrooke, the Governor 
General of both the Canadas, has a 
seat near this place, where he spends 
the summer months. He is now here, 
and I think we were told that Lady 
Selkirk was there, on a visit, from the 
dreary confines of Hudson's Bay. 

This is but a small town, yet here is 
both a Catholic, and a Protestant 
Church. I entered the former, while 
the business of the boat was expediting; 
and found the aisles crow ded with chil- 
dren, saying their catechism, in a style 
of tedious rotation, which alTorded a 
striking contrast to the compendious 
methods of the Lancasterian plan. 

At the door I bought of a little Girl a 
penny worth of molasses candy, for 



58 

whicli I put into her hand two coppers, 
saying I did not want any more, and she 
should have them both : but so compe- 
tently had the principle of honesty, or 
independence, been impressed upon 
her memory (under the unpromising 
system above mentioned,) that she ran 
after me, with the odd penny, crying, 
" Tenez Monsieur ! Voici votre cop- 
per."* 

Beggary is unknown, I find, in Cana- 
da, and thieving is said to be very 
rare. — I afterward learned, that it is no 
uncommon thing for the English inhabi- 
tants to receive again, from the hands 
of the Father Confessors, money which 
has been stolen from them, without their 
knowledge, carefully lapped up ; with 
a request to take it agairty and ask no 
questions. 

* Sfop, Sir ; here's your penny. 




m 



THE LAKE OF ST. PIERRE. 



Passing through the Lake, and among 
the woody Islands of St. Pierre, the 
weather being hazy, we almost lost 
sight of the main land; and when it 
again came in view, we were still tan- 
talized with the perpetual repetition of 
house after house, or rather hut after 
hut (for the Log hovels of the Ha^i- 
tants^ square hewn, and neatly white 
washed, as they are, even to the roofs, 
which are clap boarded, and sometimes 
thatched, with a species of long grass, 
which grows on some of these islands, 
called rherbe-au-lieu, or wild grass 
are little bigger than huts,) in which it 
frequently happens that two or three 
generations of Canadians pig together, 
preferring the pleasures of ease and 
fellowship, to all the advantages of in- 
dependence and exertion. When ne- 
cessity absolutely obliges a swarm of 



X 



60 

them to quit the parent hive, it is not to 
seek an estabhshment, where land is 
cheap, for the future settlement of them- 
selves and their children ; but to sub- 
divide the original patrimony, and run 
up another hovel, a few hundred paces 
distant, upon the same unvarying line, 
which was traced out by their remotest 
Ancestors, when they were obliged 
above all things, to consult their safety 
from the irruptions of the Savages. 

THE TOTVTV OF THREE RIVERS. 

Towards evening we stopped for an 
hour or two off the town of Three Ri- 
vers; there being no wharf for vessels 
to come too at, although this has been 
a place of trade more than one hundred 
and seventy years ; and it was once the 
seat of the Colonial Government — so 
indifferent are the Canadian French 
to matters of mere accommodation. 
Churches and Monasteries are the prin- 



61 



cipal features of the place, when seen 
from the water. One of these, that of 
the Recollets, is overshadowed by gi- 
gantic ehns. 

There were Indian canoes along 
shore, this place being yet frequented 
by the Aborigines of the North and 
West, with skins and peltry, which they 
bring with them, many hundreds of 
miles ; having their whole families on 
board of these fragile conveyances. 

Dun night, and driving rain, drove us 
below ; and the next morning we were 
still thirty or forty miles from Quebec ; 
having narrowly escaped the necessity 
of coming to anchor, by the wind's 
abating in the night. 

During breakfast time, we passed 
near the Church of St. Augustine Cal- 
vaire, whicn stands entirely exposed, 
upon a naked beach. 



62 

The mountains here begin to rise, 
and produce more interesting scenery. 
The country in view having before 
been invariably flat. About 9 o'clock 
we came in sight of the heights of 
Abraham, on the left, and those of 
Point Levi, on the right ; between 
which were fifteen or twenty sail of 
Merchantmen, and Ships of war, riding 
at anchor; the island of Orleans ap- 
pearing, in the back ground of this in- 
teresting picture. 

We rapidly passed Wolfe's Cove, and 
were brought too, with admirable dex- 
terity, at a wharf of most inconvenient 
height; for the tide rises, in this wild 
channel, from eighteen to twenty-four 
feet. 

Here, and for half a mile round the 
precipice, which consists of a black 
slate, there is but just room for one 
narrow street. The rock is almost 



63 

perpendicular, till near the top; and 
as you look up from the water, to the 
stone wall, which caps the summit of 
the hill, with projecting bastions, you 
wonder what prevents the ponderous 
masses from coming down upon your 
head. 

GENERAJL MOJrrGOMERY. 

In this dismal ditch, where it first 
became exposed to a strong battery, 
which has been since taken down, on 
the 31st day of December, fell General 
Montgomery, and his Aid-de-camp, 
Mcpherson, at the very first fire from 
the fort ; and their disheartened Fol- 
lowers were easily made prisoners, 
after a hopeless conflict. The snow 
being then four fret thick upon the 
ground. 

Yet I was told, upon the spot, by a 
Canadian Burgher of confidential ap- 



64 

pcarance, uho said he was in tlie place, 
at the time of the attack ; that the town 
might have been taken, by surprise, if 
General Arnold had pushed his oppor- 
tunity, when he first reached Point 
Levi ; instead of waiting for the Com- 
mander in Chief, who was then coming 
down the St. Lawrence. In the mean 
time the Citizens had recovered from 
the panic into which they had been 
thrown, by so unexpected an event. Sir 
Guy Carleton had thrown himself into 
the town, and the favourable moment 
for the attack was irretrievably lost. — 
The unfortunate General was interred 
by the British Commander, upon one of 
the bastions of the citadel, with what 
are called the honours of war.* 

' My Informant, an old JMan, and a native Canadian, had 
in his youth been under the Falls of Montmorency, that is 
to say, within the tremendous concavity between the rock 
and the cataract, reverberating with incessant thunder, and 
dripping with perpetual spray ; and he had often jumped 
down into the circular basins, of unusual magnitude, worn, 
in the solid rock, from Avhcnce the name of the River 



65 



QUEBEC. 

Almost perpendicularly over the 
place where Montgomery fell, on the 
very brink of the precipice, which is 

Cbaudiere ; which now pursues its foaming course at a 
distance far beneath these indubitable indications of the 
anterior elevation of its waters. They dift'er in nothing but 
their size from the well-known perforations which were 
observable at the Falls of Schuilkill, before the progress of 
improvement had obliterated all remains of those curious 
appearances. I embrace this opportunity to record that 
such things were within five miles of Philadelphia, that it may 
not be utterly forgotten that such interesting phenomena had 
ever e.\isted. Nor can I forbear to put the question which 
they suggest, why may not these aqueous perforations be 
as well admitted to prove that the Globe is not of a date 
exceedingly remote (at least in its present form) as the con- 
trarj' can be inferred from the various layers of lava round 
Mount Etna, by the periods of whose decom[)osition the 
Canon Recupero could read the history of the earth, and 
discover, with un-misgivlng presumption, that 

He that made it and revealed its date, to Moses 
Was mistaken in its age. 

The largest of these perforations, which have any where 
been observed would not have required more time for its 
production, with the assistance of circulating pebbles, than 
is allowed by the Sacred Historian. 
F 2 



6(3 

here not less than two hunclred feet 
high, in lieu of the ancient Fort or 
Chateau of St. Louis, which name, by 
courtesy of England^ it yet retains, is 
erected the Government House, the 
apartments of which arc occupied by 
the various offices of the Civil and Mili- 
tary Departments, acting under the 
orders of the Governor General of Bri- 
tish America; the Provinces of New 
Brunswick and Nova Scotia being in- 
cluded under his command. But his 
residence is in a convenient building, 
on the opposite side of -tke square. 

The lower town, from which we have 
not yet regularly ascended, is a dismal 
congeries of the most wretched build- 
ings, rising, in darkness visible^ amidst 
every kind of tilth, between the rock 
and the river; which is said to have 
washed the very base of the promon- 
tory, when Jacques Cartier first sailed 
by the craggy spot. I quitted the nar- 



6T 

row confines, with the alacrity of a Fu- 
gitive, escaping from the confinement of 
a prison ; (though here, 

In dirt and darkness hundreds stink, content) 

by a long flight of steps, ending in 
slope after slope ; down which trickles 
perpetually the superfluous moisture of 
the upper town ; the streets of which, 
in wet weather, are rinsed, over the 
heads of the luckless Passenger, by 
those projecting spouts which are so 
common in the antiquated towns of Ger- 
many. 

The upper town, at a height of one 
hundred and fifty feet, from which it 
overlooks the lower; and shows the 
shipping so perpendicularly below, that 
you think you could toss a biscuit into 
them, from the ramparts, is completely 
fortified with walls and gates, and all 
the other inconveniencies of a garrison- 
ed town; such as sentinels on guard. 



68 

at every avenue, &:c. kc. independently 
of the citadel, which, Avith its outworks, 
of considerable extent, occupies an 
elevation two hundred feet higher. 

The Cathedral, and the Seminary for 
the Clergy, together with the Jesuits 
College, opposite, now converted into 
a barrack, for the troops; who make its 
once tranquil walls resound tw ice a day 
with the animating sounds of Martial 
music — the bugle — the fife — and the 
spirit stirring drum. — These extensive 
establishments, all originally devoted to 
religion, together with the Hotel Dieu, 
as it is called, after the name of a si- 
milar institution in Paris, being a hos- 
pital for the sick, and the single Sisters 
■who attend them ; the Monastery of the 
RecoHets, now taken down, to make 
room for more useful edifices; and the 
Convent of the Ursuline Nuns, with 
other Religious Establishments, and 
their courts and gardens, occupied at 



69 

least one-half of the ground, within the 
walls ; leaving the streets narrow, irre- 
gular, and invariably up hill and down; 
a circumstance which must render them 
singularly inconvenient in frost and 
snow. 

Such is the famous City of Quebec., 
for the acquisition of which 

GENERAL WOLFE 

willingly devoted his life, in the year 
1759 ; the only memento of which 
• circumstance, upon the spot, is a wooden 
figure of the celebrated Hero, in his 
broad skirted coat, with slashed sleeves, 
painted red, standing in a niche, at the 
corner of a street ; in the attitude of 
commanding the decisive action, which 
for ever separated Canada from the do- 
minion of France. 

It is called St. John Street, and it 
leads to the Gate of St. Louis, whence 



■•'<? 



70 

through I know not how many covered 
waj-s, protected bj a like number of 
salient angles (I may very probably be 
incorrect, in the terms of fortification, 
never having made the science of de- 
struction my particular study) it finally 
disgorges the weary Passenger, thwart- 
ed by recurring obstacles, upon the 
open air of the adjacent common. 

We are now upon the Plains of Abra- 
ham ; vet the ascent continues suffi- 
ciently to cover the scene of action, 
from the fire of the. batteriee. Turning 
round when you arrive at the summit, 
and looking down the river, between 
the two steeples of the Catholic and 
Protestant Cathedrals, you have what 
I thought the most interesting view of 
Quebec, because it embraces in the 
same coup-^rceiL the principal objects in 
the vicinity. Overlooking the basin 
which is six miles wile, you behold t!ie 
Island of Orleans, stretched out before 



Tl 

jou, dll it lenninates in on^stinsruishing 
haze, whilst on the \eii tou have the 
north coast, rising gradually into distant 
moantaios, from which the riFer Mont- 
moreocv precipitating itself into the Sl 
Lawrence, is all but 5-een, throug:h a grore 
of firs, and the view terminates abrupt- 
}j in the perpendicular Promontory of 
Cai>e Tourment, which is two thou- 
sand feet high, and therefore may be 
distinctly seen at the distance of thirty 
miles. On the right you have the rocks 
of Point Levi, and behold the shipping 
in the harbour, at an immense depth 
below. Imagine the eflect of this whole 
fairy scene, connected as it is by the 
broad surfaces of the River, which is 
seen again upon the ed^e of the hori- 
zon, winding round the stupendous 
Blud* above mentioned, in its course 
toward the sea. 

The field of battle lies a mile fiirther 
west — The common remains bare, and 



^^ 



72 

uncultivated ; and a little to the left of 
the road to Montreal, you perceive a 
large stone, near which the General 
fell. It may be easily distinguished by 
the repeated efforts of British Visitors 
to possess themselves of the minutest 
specimen of this monument of National 
prowess, ta carry home with them, as 
relics, on their return to England. 

It is a whitish granite, of a finer grain 
than usual. 

This interesting spot has been devot- 
ed to History, not by an English Pro- 
fessor of the Fine Arts; but by our 
Countryman West, who considers him- 
self acting patriotically as a British sub- 
ject in celebrating any event, which is 
counted honourable to the British arms, 
that had occurred before the Revolu- 
tion, which established the Independ- 
ence of his country. 



*3 

The French Governor ot Quebec, 
M. de Montcalm, fell likewise on the 
field of battle, jet such is the injustice 
of Mankind to those who seek 

the babble honour, in the cannon's mouth, 

that the Man, who died in the defence 
) of his Country, is never mentioned with 
I applause, because unsuccessful ; whilst 
i the victorious Invader of a Foreign 
shore is puffed to the skies bv the 
meretricious trumpet of Fame. 

I sat up my head quarters, to adopt 
the military phraseology, that prevails 
here, at the Union Hotel, in the Place d^ 
jSrmes or Parade; intending from hence 
to make excursions into the Country, 
at my leisure : Malhiots Hotel in St 
John's Street is said to be the best 
House of entertainment at Quebec: but 
I generally find the second best, in this 
case, best suited to the indulgence of 
my desultory habits. 



74 

At this place I met daily, at dinner, 
while in town, a shrewd English Agent 
or Commissary; a man of mature age, 
universal information, and a cold, cal- 
culating temperament ; and a young 
Canadian from the Country, who was 
studying Law at Quebec. The cool 
headed Englishman occupied the head 
of the table, with the strictest observ- 
ance of the customary forms of polite- 
ness; but amidst the reciprocation of 
formal civilities took care to maintain 
a prudent reserve : but the vivacious 
Frenchman attached himself to me, im- 
mediately, with the most engaging frank- 
ness. This is not the first time I have 
had occasion to remark the mutual at- 
traction and repulsion, which takes 
place between total strangers, on sitting 
down together, for the first time, at a 
Public table; nor yet to observe the 
preference which the French every 
where discover for the American cha- 
racter. It was as good as a passport 



75 

when I was last in France ; and an ap- 
plication under that name was respected 
by Sentinels on guard, when permission 
was generally refused to others. " Vous 
" etes Americain ! Entrez Monsieur,"* 
and Commandants who received me 
with all the sternness of official author- 
ity, have softened their manner, as soon 
as I called myself an American. 

I thought my young Friend an Eng- 
lishman, so well did he speak the lan- 
guage ; and I afterward understood that 
he had renounced the French, from his 
childhood, and now spoke it so ill, that 
he declined conversing in it, even when 
he learned that I spoke French myself. 

In the perpetual ebullitions of his 
vivacity, he pni me to the question a great 
deal more tlian is agreeable to me ; but 
I could not find in my heart to discoun- 

• Are you an American ? Walk in, sir. 



76 

tenance his volubility, or discourage hi& 
wish to be serviceable to me, in the ob- 
jects of my pursuit. 

Accordingly when I left Quebec, I 
was furnished by him with a list of the 
post houses on the road ; accompanied 
by notes of the inns, and other infor- 
mation, highly useful to a Traveller by 
land. But this was not enough to satisfy 
his assiduity, I must have letters of re- 
commendation to no less than four Gen- 
tlemen of his acquaintance, in the dif- 
ferent towns I should pass through, 
though I professed, with my usual 
bluntness, very little expectation of de- 
livering any of tliem. — And there was 
one to his Grandmother at Machiche — 
but I will not anticipate the amusing 
visit to which this afterward gave rise. 

I recollected some of the sprightly 
sallies of JMonsicur Gugy^ \\\\\\ the in- 
tention of putting thera upon paper; 



77 

but so much of the effect of that \o\a- 
tile spirit 

Whence livcb' wit excites to gay surprise, 

unavoidably evaporates in repetition: 
and so much of its pungency de- 
pends upon attending circumstances, 
Avhich cannot be conveyed by the pen, 
that I shall not risque the attempt ; lest 
it should discredit the convivial powers 
of my young Friend, whose esteem I 
should be very unwilling to forfeit. 

One retort, however, which took 
place, when the cloth was removed, be- 
t^veen the two ends of the table, was 
JVational^ and I shall therefore preserve 
it. The sober Englishman was asked 
to mention a historical subject, upon 
which the Student might exercise his 
talents for composition, during the 
recess. He proposed " The Rise and 
" Progress of the most extensive Colony 
"upon the Globe"—- Not Botany Bay^ 

G 2 



78 

sure, said I. — " No, no," interrupted 
Monsieur^ " it shall be the Decline and 
" Fall of Quebec." 

On another occasion, the American 
Revolution being in question, the cause 
was on all hands allowed to be just: 
" Nay," said they, " the British Govern- 
" ment itself has rirtuallj acknow- 
*• ledged it, in granting, by Act of Parlia- 
" ment, to the Canadian Provinces, the 
" only privilege, which the leading Pat- 
" riots at one time contended for, that of 
'• not being taxed, without their own consent.''^ 

My young Friend would gladly have 
accompanied me to the Religious 
Houses; but to such places I always 
choose to go by myself One of my 
earliest visitations was to 

THE HOTEL DIEU, 

where a Superieure and twenty-seven 
Sisters take care of the sick poor, of 



79 

both sexes, who are lodged in separate 
wards, and furnished, hy them, with 
every thing necessary. The Sisters 
however, having a good deal of leisure 
on their hands, being themselves almost 
as numerous as their Patients, employ 
or amuse, themselves, in making orna- 
ments for altars, and embroidering, with 
fruit and flowers, a variety of trinkets, 
such as pocket books, and work bags ; 
which visitors take home with them for 
presents to children, or mementos of 
their journey. They are made of the 
thin, smooth, and pliable bark of a 
tree, which is common here, (the French 
call it Boulotte) it will bear writing on 
as well as pap^; the ink not spreading 
in the least. I brought away a specimen 
of it, from the Falls of Montmorency, 
which I intend to present to Peale's 
Museum. 

I introduced myself to one of the 
Nuns, whom I met in the passage. (She 



80 

was dressed in white linen, very coarse, 
with a black veil, pinned close acrof«s 
the forehead, and thrown back upon 
the shoulders) by asking permission to 
see their chapel. — " Asseyez vous, Mon- 
" sieur, un petit moment/'* There was 
a window seat at hand. " Je vais 
" chercher une de mes Socurs, pour nous 
" accorapagner."t It seems they are 
never allowed to go any where without 
a Companion, which is the reason they 
are always seen abroad in pairs. She 
returned immediately, with another Sis- 
ter, who saluted me with apparent 
pleasure. 

They introduced me to the door of the 
Chapel, but went not in themselves. 
The Sisters having a private place of 
devotion appropriated to them, along 
side, they never enter the Public Cha- 
pel, when it is frequented by others. 

* Sit down one minute, Sir. 

n am going for one of my Slaters to accompau; us. 



81 

I soon returned to them, finding no- 
thing interesting in the Building, though 
it seems it was founded in 1638, hy the 
Dutchess d'Aiguillon ; who sent over 
three Nuns of this order, from the Hos- 
pital at Dieppe, on the establishment 
of this charitable Institution. It con- 
tains but two pictures worth attention. 
They are large pieces, without frames, 
by good French Masters, leaning against 
the walls of the side Chapels, as if they 
had never been hungup. The subjects 
I remember were the Visitation of St. 
Elizabeth, and the Dispute with the 
Doctors of the Law. 

The two Sisters had waited for me, 
in the Sacristy, behind the Chapel. 
They seemed gladly to embrace the 
opportunity for a few minutes conver- 
sation, with a stranger. J was curious 
about their regulations. " Vous n'avez 
" done pas de Communaute chez vous, 



82 

" Monsieur."* We had not any. I was 
from Philadelphia. " Cepondant," said 
one of them, " on en a a la Louisiane. 
*' Mais ce n'est pas si loin. Voila la 
•• raison apparamment."t Did they per- 
mit women who had once been married, 
to take the veil .'^ " Oui Monsieur, Si 
" elles n'ont point d'enfans. Cela pourr- 
" oit les distraire. Etd'ailleurs elles doi- 
" vent plutot s'occuper a elever leurs 
" Enfans. — II y avoit dernierement Ma- 
•* dame une telle qui vouloit faire pro- 
" fession : Mais Monseigneur I'Eveque 
" a dit qu'il ctoit plutot de son devoir 
" d'elever ses Enfans, que de soigner les 
« Malades.":}: Having once entered the 

* Have you no Communities in your Country, Sir ? 

t Y et tliey have them in Louisiana : but that is not so far. 
That must be the reason. 

X Yes Sir. If they have no children — Tliat might divide 
their affections ; and beside, they are bound in duty to bring 
up their children. It is but lately that Madame Such-a-one 
wanted to enter the House ; but my Lord Bishop told her 
that it was rather her business to see to the education of her 
children, than to take care of the Sick. 



83 

House, were they obliged to perpetual 
residence ? — " Apres uii an et demi de 
" profession I'on ne peut plus sortir, 
" Jusques la il est permis de se retirer 
" (laughing) Combieny at-il degens ma- 
" ries, Monsieur, qui voudroient bien re- 
" noncer au mariage, si cela se pouvoit, 
" apros un an et demi de noviciat ?"*— - 
Assuredly, said I — a great many. — But I 
took the vow of matrimony, twenty years 
ago, and have never had occasion to 
repent my obhgation. 

THE CATHEDRA!^ OF QUEBEC. 

I NEXT went to see the Cathedral, 
which is a plain rough building, on the 
outside, with a handsome Steeple, ae 
usual, covered with tin. — It is erected 
on one side of the great door. — Within, 

* After a year and a half of trial, they are no longer pcr- 
mitteJ to withdraw. Until then thoy are at liberty to do so. 
How many married people are there, who would gladly 
renounce matrUnony, after the experience of a year and j» 
half? 



84 

this Church has much of the imposing 
effect of European Cathedrals, arising 
irom great length, and loftj height. 

I was struck with the rich carved 
Wainscot of the Choir; much in the 
style of that of Notre Dame, at Paris. 
Over it four Corinthian columns support 
an arch, in scroll work. Upon this 
rests the globe, on which stands a Fi- 
gure of the Redeemer, in the attitude 
of benediction, holding in his left hand, 
or rather leaning upon a ponderous 
cross ; rays of glory emanating from the 
body on all sides. This part is painted 
white, and the whole work is admirable, 
both in design, and execution ; as well 
as the open work of the Bishop's 
throne, and the Stalls ior the Canons; 
but the sculptured Pulpit, and the 
Statues, in the Choir, are painted and 
gilded, in a gaudy style, unworthy of 
notice, or description. 



85 

The Sacristan now accosted me, ob- 
serving my peculiar curiosity. He was 
a hard headed veteran of the Church, 
with all his features settled into that 
imperturbable insensibility, which is 
naturally contracted by beholding, 
without interest, or regard, the perpetual 
flux and reflux of the tide of human 
life at the doors of a Catholic Cathe- 
dral, where every period of existence 
from the cradle to the grave is in con- 
tinual rotation. 

I had myself seen that morning the 
different ceremonies of a Christening, 
and a Burial ; nothing was wanting 
but a marriage to complete the whole 
hjstory of life : and that I am told often 
takes place, contemporaneously, also. 

I asked him whether the Church was 
not a hundred and fifty feet long? — 
He said it was one hundred and eighty- 
six. He had measured it himself. It 

H 



86 

is ninety wide, and the middle aisle, 
which is divided from the side aisles by 
massy arcades, is at least sixty high. 

In what year, said I, was the Church 
erected ? " Monsieur, il y a environ cent 
" cinquante ans. Je ne saurois vous 
" dire le jour meme."* But the carv- 
ed work in the Choir is not of that age. 
(It is of some rich wood not yet much 
darkened by time) " Cest que I' Eglise 
" a ete brulee il ya environ cinquante 
" ans."t The Pulpit, said I, was probably 
saved from the wreck. (It is of Gothic 
construction, and grossly painted, in 
colours.) " Non, Monsieur, Rien ne fut 
sauve Tout est a neuf."J Was the beau- 
tiful carved work of the choir made in 
this Country? "Oui, Monsieur, ^'a ete 
*' fait par un de nos propres Canadiens, 

* Sir, it is aboiit one hundred and fifty years old. I can- 
rot tell you to the very day. 

t No, for the Church was entirely burnt down about fifty 
years ago. 

t No, sir, nothing was saved ; every thing is new. 



87 

'* qui a fait le voyage de France expres 
" pour s'en rendre capable."* Was that 
Lewis XIII, or Lewis XIV, that stood 
on the right hand of the altar? (A Mar- 
shall of France, perhaps Montmorenci, 
on the opposite side.) " Non, Monsieur, 
*' ce nest ni I'un ni I'autre. C'est — C'est 
" — Le Louis des Croisades^'f It is then 
Lewis the IX, or St. Lewis, said I. — " Eh 
'• oui, oui, Monsieur, vous avez raison. 
" Mais comment I'avez vous reconnu 
" pour etre roi ?"J By the crown and 
sceptre. " Oh! bin,"§ said the old Sexton, 
(who appeared to have, till that moment 
overlooked his kingship, and consider- 
ed the canonized Lewis, as nothing 
more than one of the Saints of the 
Choir — it being not uncommon to 

* Yes sir, it was made by one of our Canadians, who went 
over to France on purpose to qualify himself for the work. 

t No sir, it is neither of them. It is — It is — the Louis of 
the Crusades. 

t Yes, yes, sir; you are right — ^Buthow did you know 
him to be a King ? 

§ 0! true. 



88 

crown tliG figures of saints in Catholic 
Churches.) " Les autres d'alentour," 
continued he, " sont St. Pierre, St. Paul, 

" St. He could not recollect the 

" name of the third — it was the Marshall 

" of France. St. Vous sentez bien 

" que nous ne les croyons pas les verita- 
" bles Saints memes ; mais seulement 
" leurs representants."* O yes, yes, I 
understand it. 

THE CHAPEL OF THE URSLLINES. 

Next morning I went to the Chapel 
of the Ursulines, in the expectation of 
seeing the Nuns, at their devotions: 
but in that I was disappointed. An 
old Priest was saying mass, at a mag- 
nificent altar — the Tabernacle uncom- 
monly splendid. Corinthian Columns 
— gilded Statues — a bishop on one side, 

* The others round are St. Peter St. Paul St. You 

understand that we do not take them to be the very saints 
tbem^elves. but only Uieir representatives 



89 

and a Queen on the other. (Probably 
Ann of Austria, the Mother of Lewis 
XIV, as this institution was founded in 
1 639.) St. J oseph with the Child in his 
aims, over head. Seraphs are recli- 
ning in the angles of the pediment, and 
Cherubs spread their wings above, and 
below, the niches. Bas reliefs of Apos- 
tles, and Evangelists, with their appro- 
priate emblems, occupying the pannels 
of the pedestals. All this in the finest 
style of the Age of Lewis XIV, both 
sculpture, and architecture. 

This rich Chapel may be eighty feet 
long, forty wide, and forty high. It is 
now dark with age, though it has always 
been neatly kept, by the piety of the 
Nuns, and has therefore suffered no- 
thing else from time. 

On the left is a side Chapel hung with 
Gobelin tapestry, (probably a Royal 
present, as Lewis XIV, kept that ma- 
il 2 



90 

nufactory in his own hands for such pur- 
poses.) On the right is a large arched 
grate, with a black curtain drawn be- 
hind it, through which the Nuns were 
occasionally heard, hemming, and 
coughing ; for this was a silent mass. I 
now despaired of seeing the particular 
objects of my curiosity: but presently 
the curtains were drawn, from within, 
and discovered the Nuns, kneeling, in 
their black dresses, with white neck- 
kerchiefs. — This was at the moment of 
the elevation of the Host. And no 
soonerwas it over than the curtainsw ere 
closed again, and the slender Audience 
seemed to be left behind, to receive the 
•' Dominus vobiscum,"* and coldly re- 
spond " Amen." 

The paintings in this elegant Chapel 
are chiefly unmeaning representations 

' The Lord he with yoD. 



• 
■ i 



di 

of celebrated Sisters of the order, in 
attitudes of adoration, or beatification 
— on their knees — or in the clouds. 
There is, however, upon these venera- 
ble walls a historical representation of 
The Genius of France, just landed 
upon the shores of Canada, from a Eu- 
ropean vessel, which is seen moored to 
the rocks. She is pointing to the stan- 
dard of the cross, at the mast head ; 
and offering, with the other hand, to a 
female Savage, the benefits of religious 
instruction; which she receives upon 
her knees. Wig-wams, children, &c. 
are seen in the back ground. 

This Conventual Institution, proba- 
bly the most strict in North America, 
shorv of the Vice-royalty of Mexico, 
owes its rise to the piety and self-denial 
of a rich young Widow, who devoting 
herself to religion, upon the death of 
her Husband, chose Quebec for her 



92 



retreat, as a place of seclusion from the 
world. 



THE GENERAL HOSPITAL AXD THE ' 
WHITE NUNS. 

The General Hospital, which is beau- 
tifullj located, in a retired situation, on 
the banks of the little River St. Charles, 
about a mile westward of the town, now 
onlj remained to be explored. 

I walked that way, one evening, 
when all nature wears an aspect of 
tranquillity, and invites to meditation, 
or repose. 

It is the most regular of all the reli- 
gious edifices of this place, and remains, 
without alteration, or addition, as it 
was originally founded by its beneficent 
Patron, M. de St. Vallier, the second 
Bishop of Quebec, who endowed it, I 
believe by will, in the year 1693, for 



93 

the relief of the aged and infirm. They 
are attended by thirty-seven Sisters, 
under the direction of a Superieure, or 
Lady Abbess. 

This extensive Building forms a hol- 
low square, two stories high ; and the 
front next the town has a venerable 
appearance of antiquity, with its high 
pitched roof, and broad portals at each 
end, under the protection of St. Jo- 
seph, and the Virgin (if 1 remember 
right) in their respective niches. For- 
tunately I did not enter it, at this time, 
but sauntered about the lonely environs 
of the place, thinking upon the melan- 
choly absurdity of those human inven- 
tions, and traditions, by which God is 
robbed of his honour, so to speak, and 
his Son Jesus Christ, is, as it were, su- 
perseded by Joseph and Mary; as if 
the heaven-born Saviour were yet under 
the tutelage of earthly Parents. 



94 

I say, fortunately, because this cir- 
cumstance brought me here a second 
time, but a few minutes before a pro- 
cession took place, which was the most 
impressive thing of the kind I ever saw 
in Canada. 

I had passed through the lower ward, 
into the Chapel, attended by one of the 
Patients, who told me on my giving him 
something to discharge him, that there 
was going to be a procession of the 
Nuns that afternoon, agreeably to the 
rules of the Founder, which enjoin, it 
seems, the formal visitation of the al- 
tars, in the respective wards, to be per- 
formed by the Sisterhood, in full habit, 
at certain set times in every month. 

I bade him bring me word, when the 
procession was coming, and applied 
myself to the perusal of two broad 
tablets, upon the walls, which narrated 



05 



in French verse, the style and title — the 
talents and the virtues, of 

JEAN BAPTISTE LE CHEVAJLLIER, 
DE ST. VALLIER, 

who had been two and forty years 
bishop of Quebec, when he founded this 
beneficent Institution, and was here in- 
terred, at the foot of the altar. 

I had not near finished the verses, 
which had no particular merits of their 
own to recommend them, when my At- 
tendant returned, in haste, to tell me 
that the procession was forming. As I 
re-entered the ward, at the upper end, 
the Sisterhood were coming in at the 
other. They were preceded by a Lay 
Sister, bearing a silver crucifix. She 
was evidently in her noviciate, having 
only the white veil, which was pinned 
across her forehead, and fell loose upon 
her shoulders. The rest had all black 



96 

veils, of the same description ; but the 
dress of all of them was white, with 
large open flannel sleeves, a small cross 
depending from the neck. 

The cross bearer was the handsomest 
woman, or rather, she was the only 
handsome woman, I had seen in Canada 
— very fair — but tall, without colour, 
and her unusual height was set off to 
advantage by the little girls, that car- 
ried lighted tapers, on either side of 
her. But there was something, even in 
her downcast eyes, which failed to con- 
vince me, that the fair proselyte had 
voluntarily drawn the lot of a Recluse. 
They all three took their station on one 
side, directly opposite to where I stood, 
while the Superior, between two Sis- 
ters, bearing, with both hands, a pon- 
derous Image of the Virgin, approach- 
ed the altar; and, kneeling down before 
it, was imitated by all the Sisterhood, 
as they followed her, in pairs. 



97 

Thej remained for some minutes in 
this uneasy attitude, singing aloud, 

Virgo piissima ! Ora pro nobis ! 

Mater dolorissima ! Ora pro nobis ! SiC. &.C.* 

the Catholic Spectators on their knees 
responding with zealous vociferation, 

Domine exaudi nos !f 

THE LEGISLATURE OF CANADA. 

The Legislature of Canada holds its 
sittings in what was once the Bishop's 
Palace, a Building which has been long 
allowed to be applied to other uses, by 
the now humble Bishops of the See, 
who are content to reside in the Semi- 
nary, among their clergy ; and the old 
Chapel has been handsomely fitted up, 
by Government, for the accommodation 
of the Legislature. 

* Most pious Virgin ! Pray for us. Most painful Motheri 
Pray for us, 

t Lord, we beseech thee to hear us. Or, as it stands io 
our Protestant Liturgy, Good Lord, we beseech thee to hear 
us. 



m 

I walked into it one day, with per- 
mission from one of their Secretaries, 
who was writing in the Antichamber. 

The Speaker sits, as at St. Stephen's, 
in a high backed chair, at the upper 
end of the room, surmounted by his 
Majesty's arms. The Members sit upon 
benches, without desks. It will he re- 
collected that our Delegates in Con- 
gress occupy armed chairs, and every 
Member is provided with a desk. Which 
arrangement is best adapted to the va- 
rious purposes of discussion, and deli- 
beration, I shall not venture to opine; 
as it is, evidently, one of those ques- 
tions upon which much may be said on 
both sides. 



The Proceedings in this miniature 
Parliament, for so it is called, take 
place in both languages ; though I per- 
ceived by the names of the actual Mem- 
bers, which hung up in the lobby, that 



tl9 

few of the Representatives are now 
French. 

The debates are said to be sometimes 
very animated ; but they are more fre- 
quently personal, than political; The 
Crown having a veto upon all their 
proceedings. 

After various changes, in the system 
of government, had been adopted and 
rejected, in the vain expectation of re- 
conciling the customs of France, with 
the laws and usages of England, in the 
year 1792, all the benefits of the British 
Constitution were extended to this part 
of the Empire; and the Province of 
Canada was divided into two separate 
Governments ; a Legislative Council, 
and Assembly, being allotted to each. 
But both of them were placed, together 
with the lower provinces of New-Bruns- 
wick, and Nova Scotia, under the con- 
trol of the same Governor General. 



100 



PEDESTRIAN EXCURSION TO THE 
F.UXS OF MOX^OIORENCY. 

My curiosity being now nearly satis- 
fied, at Quebec, I sat out, by myself, on 
a pedestrian excursion to the Falls of 
Montmorency, about eight miles north 
east of that City. 

On crossing the River St. Charles, I 
found myself in a muddy plain, or bot- 
tom, of black mould, mixed with sand ; 
through which I with difficulty picked 
my steps, for a mile or two; after which 
the rising ground became stony and 
rough. 

On the left I passed two or three 
large old French Mansion Houses, very 
long in Front, but shallow. They 
wore the appearance of desertion, and 
decay; but the Church of Beauport, on 
t'he right, with its two steeples, and a 



101 

comfortable college for Ihe Priests, 
looked in good repair, I envied them 
nothing however hut a small grove of 
trees, on a projecting knowl, through 
which they had laid out a gravel walk. 
It terminated at an oaken table, with 
seats for study, or reflection ; from which 
tranquil spot the Fathers could see 
Quebec, without any intervening ob- 
ject, but the majestic river, and the 
shipping in the harbour. 

About noon I reached the river 
Montmorency, which is crossed by a 
bridge, a little above the Fall. Having 
overlooked the foaming torrent from a 
grove of Firs (The French call them ele- 
gantly Pinettes) I crossed the bridge, and 
dined, or rather would have dined, at a 
small Inn, on the other side. But I found 
the brown bread was totally unpalatable 
to my pampered appetite, and nothing 
else, but eggs, were to be had. 
i2 



102 

A qiiiet nap however refreshed me — I 
forgot the want of dinner; and in the 
afternoon I went round the hill, on the 
lower side of the Falls. I saw them, on 
the way. to much better advantage than 
before ; pouring, in an unbroken sheet of 
foam, into the abyss below ; and, descend- 
ing to the beach, I approached the thun- 
dering cataract, near enough to be sprink- 
led with the spray ; and to satisfy myself 
that the height of this celebrated fall has 
been much over-rated. It does not in 
reality exceed, if it even equals the Gigan- 
tic Falls of Niaojara, in the smallest of 
their dimensions. I mean that of height. 

Heriot calls it two hundred and forty- 
six feet, which is about a hundred feet be- 
yond the truth; and yei he must have 
viewed it, with attention, as he gives a 
beautiful view of Montmorency. 

The bank over which it rolls, consists 
of a lime slate, iii horizontal strata, of 



103 

various thicknesses, connected together 
by occasional veins of fibrous gypsum. 

The rocks of Montmorency have re- 
ceived httle injury, or rather impression, 
from the course of the water; which does 
not appear to have receded many feet from 
what must have been its pristine situation, 
at the period of Noah's flood — perhaps 
lone: before : for I am one of those sieolo- 
gists who, with Professor Cuvier, of the 
French Institute, do not believe that the 
face of the earth was much, if at all, ma- 
terially, changed, at the time of the 
Deluge ; the waters of which might rise 
to the height mentioned in scripture, and 
withdraw their covering, Avithout leaving 
any more permanent marks of their irrup- 
tion, than the mud and slime which they 
would naturally deposite. 

It falls upon a flat rock, which bear? 
no marks below the present basin, of 
having ever been more worn by the 



104 

waters, than it is at present ; and the ad- 
joining banks are within a few hundred 
feet of the great river, to which they 
descend ahnost perpendicularly. 

These circumstances disprove the 
fond presumption, so lightly adopted 
by Schultz, and others, that the Ca- 
taract of Niagara; which now pours 
over a perpendicular wall of similar 
rocks (as no doubt it has done from the 
beginning, and will continue to do, to 
the end of time) has receded, from a 
distance of, I forget how many miles, 
below ; wearing away the solid rock, 
at the rate of so many inches in a year. 

This groundless hypothesis is accom- 
panied with sage calculations of how 
nearly this prodigious wear and tear 
can be kept within the limits of the 
Mosaic Chronology; and how much 
more time — looking forward with fearful 
expectations, will be suflicient to wear 



105 

through the remaining becl of the river, 
and let out the waters of Lake Erie, ta 
deluge the subjacent plains !* 

* The rocks of Montmorency afford ample confirmation of 
the comparatively recent date of the present state of things, 
according to the Mosaic Chronology ; as it is evident from 
the proximity, or rather juxta-position, of this Cataract to 
the River St. Lawrence, into which it falls almost perpen- 
dicularly, in connexion with the unworn surface of the 
flat rack, on which it falls, (every where but at the existing 
basin) that these waters could not have continued so to fall 
for any very long period of time, without having worn away 
the rocks over which they pour, in a much greater uegree, 
than they have yet done. 

I consider these Falls as affording palpable proof of Profes- 
sor Cuvier's opinion, in his Theory of the Earth, " That, by a 
careful examination of what has taken place, on the surface 
of the Globe, since it has been laid dry, for the last time, 
and its continents have assumed their present form, (for 
the learned Professor traces the formation of the rocks and 
mountains, through gradual, and successive, changes, both 
of composition, and position, at least in such parts as are 
somewhat elevated above the level of the ocean) it may be 
clearly seen, that this last Revolution, and consequently 
the establishment of our existing Societies (in other words, 
the creation of the Human race) cannot have been very re- 
mote. Accordingly, it is obvious to remark, that among 
the bones [of animals] found in a fossil state, those of the 
Human species have never yet been discovered." Several 
of those specimens, which had passed for remains of that 
kind, Cuvier examined, with attention, and that able Na- 
turalist declares, that not a single fragment, among themj 
had ever belonged to a Human skeioton 



106 

A truce to speculation — Let us return 
to acknowledged realities. 

By going round the mouth of the 
river, and ranging the flat rock, which 
forms its level bottom, I got within the 
influence of the spray ; and, turning 
from the sun, was gratified with the 
aerial splendours of a circular rainbow; 
which formed around me a perfect 
'^ring, or halo, of the prismatic colours. 

I now followed the course of the 
beach, down the shore of the St, Law- 
rence, as far as the little Church of 
Ange Gardien, (not less than three miles) 
and was by that time weary enough to 
have accepted a humble lodging, in one 
of the neighbouring cots: But I did not 
feel inclined to solicit admittance, while 
I could possibly command accommo- 
dation, at an Inn. 

I therefore stopped at a house to in- 
quire the road, where an old Woman, 



107 

and her Daughter, were weaving, in a 
large room, which apparently answered 
all their purposes, as there were several 
beds in it. — Whilst I was taking her di- 
rections, the Priest of the Parish came 
in, with that peculiar air of unconcern, 
approaching to apathy, which is so ob- 
servable among the Clergy in Canada. 
Upon the Priest's sitting down, the good 
Woman laid aside her shuttle, and 
brought in a mug of beer; which she 
set between us, with rustic civility — not 
offering it to either. — His reverence was 
not inquisitive, and 1 was not loquacious, 
under the fatigue of my journey ; so I 
soon rose, and took my leave. I have 
since regretted that I had not taken the 
opportunity of some professional infor- 
mation : but one has always something 
to regret ; and 



The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with 
hearing. 



There was no tavern, he said, for two 
leagues j but there were good Houses 



Upon the road ; and they were accus- 
tomed to exercise hospitality. That is 
to say, in this Country, they would re- 
ceive Travellers, and take pay for their 
entertainment. — Hospitality implies, in 
Canada, nothing like the disinterested 
kindness of the Quakers in Pennsyl- 
vania, which has been lately sketched, 
with such glaring colours, in Gaits' Life 
of West ; nor yet does it indicate the 
liberal welcome of the Gentleman 
Farmer, of Maryland, or Virginia, to 
whom the company of an intelligent 
Stranger is such an acceptable treat, in 
those isolated situations, that he is re- 
commended from house to house, by 
way of conferring a favour; and he may 
live among the neighbouring Gentry, at 
free cost, as long as he chooses. 

I continued my progress, by cottages 
and hamlets, mills, and water-falls, till 
I came at last within ken of the expect- 
ed place of repose : but its wretched 
appearance so disheartened me, afte-r 



109 

walking fifteen miles, in expectation of 
a place of shelter, that I had, at last, a 
great mind to have begged a night's 
lodging in the neighbourhood. I actu- 
ally knocked at one door for that pur- 
pose ; but the People within answered 
as if they had retired to rest, (it was 
now between nine and ten o'clock) 
and I reconciled myself as well as I 
could to the brawling of Watermen, 
who were to put off as soon as the tide 
served, which would be some lime be- 
fore midnight, for Quebec. The Land- 
lady (one of the coarsest women I have 
ever seen) had some tolerable wine, as 
it happened, so I order^ a pint of it, 
and declined having any thing else for 
supper. I threw myself, in my clothes, 
upon the wretched bed that was made 
for me ; and next morning I turned out, 
as early as possible, after swallowing a 
couple of raw eggs, the only eatable I 
could stomach, in this squalid abode. 

K 



110 

The Peasants of Canada have got the 
disagreeable habit, so common in Europe, 
of never telling their price. Ce que vous 
voulez Monsieur (What jou please sir) is 
the universal answer, even at profess- 
ed Inns, in unfrequented places. But I 
must say they never asked me for more 
than I gave them, whatever it was ; and 
they always appeared to be perfectly sat- 
isfied. 

Yet there are no beggars in Canada, 
any more than in the United States. The 
Stranger is no where importuned for 
money, or disgusted by the shameless 
display of natural, or acquired deformity, 
with which European Roads and Cities 
universally abound. Whilst I was at 
Montreal, a street Bes^gar arrived from 
Europe : upon taking his stand in the 
Public square, he was soon noticed by the 
Pohce, and clapped up in a place of confine- 
ment, till he should learn to respect the 
customs of the Countrv, and betake himself 



Ill 

to some honest means of obtaining a live- 
Hhood. 

I was much annoyed, however, by the 
little whiffet dogs that run out upon Pas- 
sengers from every hovel, barking till they 
are out of sight. I often admired the 
patience of the PostllHons — but they are 
probably fond of it. Noise seems to be 
here the general passion. Church bells 
are perpetually ringing out, drums beat 
twice a day, in th« principal towns, ma- 
king: the streets resound with the tattoo, 
or the reveille ; and in the country whole 
dozens of little bells are constantly jingling 
upon the harness of every caleche. 

Before I turned about, I examined the 
ruins of the Franciscan Convent which 
had been burnt by General Wolfe to dis- 
lodge its Inhabitants, whose influence pre- 
vented supplies from being brought him 
by the neighbouring Peasantry, and the 
Chateau, as it was called, (I conjecture 



112 

irom its having been originally a Seign- 
orial Mansion House or Gentleman's seat) 
was never allowed to be repaired. 

The neighbouring Church called Cha- 
teau Richer, from this castellated mansion 
(whose walls are yet perfectly sound, 
though they have been so long disman- 
tled) was built in 1638; and it is now 
undergoing a thorough repair. 

The whole Island of Orleans may be 
seen from hence ; but its apearance is un- 
interesting, on so near a view ; from the 
monotonous style of the settlements, house 
after house, at equal distances, and so 
much alike, that you cannot distinguish 
one from another. 

The French Settlements do not extend 
above fifty miles below the Island, though 
they are sprinkled along, as far as the 
Harbour of Tadoussac, on one side, and 
the town of Kamouraska on the other; 



113 

from whence downward, in a space of" 
hundreds of miles, nothing is to be seen, 
on either hand, but mountains covered 
with brush wood, and rocks, grey with 
the moss of ages, over, or beside, which, 
innumerable streams, and rivers, seem to 
gush, or roll, in vain. 

In this gigantic River, the water is 
brackish, no farther than the lower end 
of the Island of Orleans; and the tide 
flows no farther than the lake of St. 
Pierre ; yet the white Porpoises are 
frequently seen to pitch in the basin of 
Quebec; and Whales occasionally as'- 
cend, as far as the river Saguenay.* 

* The impetuous torrent of the Saguenay, is a curiosity of 
the watery element, little, if at all, inferior to the thunder- 
ing Falls of Niagara. The banks are naked rocksjiviBhich 
vise from one hundred and seventy to three hundrcnb'and 
forty yards, above tlie stream ; whose current is at once 
broad, deep, and violent. In some places, falls of fifty or 
sixty feet cause it to rush onward with inconceivable rapid- 
ity. It is generally from two to three miles wide, to a dis 
tance of one or two hundred miles from its mouth, where 
it is suddenly contracted by projecting rocks to the width of 

k2 



114 

On my return toward Quebec, I pro- 
ceeded more leisurely than I had done, in 
coming down : and now Ibund time to ad- 
rUii^e the beautiful plants, or rather vines, 
which were occasionally to be seen, hansr- 
mg (Vom the lintel of an open window. — 
The windows in Canada, opening on 
hinges, from side to side, instead of being 
hung with weights, to rise, and fall, as 
with us. These vines, it seems, are called 



one mile only. At tlte place of its discharge, attempts have 
bees made to souiul its depth, with five hundi-ed faihoiu of 
iiiie, but witlumt effeoi. At two luiles u]>, the bottom is 
indicated at one hnndred and tliirty or forfy fathom«, and 
seventy miles frt^n the St. Lawrence it is stiU from titty to 
sixty fathoms deep. 

Its course is very sinnous, owing to innumerable project- 
ing points, contractinj; its width, from eitiirr siiore Yet 
the tide mns up it for $e\enty miles: and the ebl». on ac- 
vonntof these olxstnictions. is much later than it is in the 
§re<ti> Htv'cr ; in consequence of which at low water, in the 
fiftcHpRTtence. the force of the Saguenay is |>erreivablo for 
several miles, after its current has been ab^orbel^ ii the 
biMad bosom of the former ; which is hei-e twenty or thirty 
ntiles wide. 

Just wuhiii its mouth, is the harbour of Taiioussac, whicb 
h well sheltered, by surrounding heights, and furnishes 
aucborage for any number ef vessels., of the lai^eft si*e 



115 

fils tTamigner, or spiders threads, from 
the singular dehcacy of their tendrils. — 
They are suspended in small pots, which 
the earliest leaves soon cover, so as com- 
pletely to conceal the vessel which con- 
tains them. The plant then pushes forth 
its pendent strings of sprigs and flowers, 
green, red, and blue, the clusters of 
which seem to be growing in the air. — 
Frequently single pots of pinks, mari- 
golds, and other flowers, occupied the 
sills of the windows, in the meanest cot- 
tages ; and gave them, more than any 
thing within, an appearance of domestic 
enjoyment. 

As I walked along, the Men had gene- 
rally turned out to mend the roads, much 
rain having fallen latterly, and the surface 
being full of holes rooted up by the hogs. 
I asked one grey headed Man, how old he 
was. lie told me he was eighty-one. — 
•'Ah Monsieur,'' added he, " J'ai vn bien do 



116 

»• la mistre, au monde/'* I quitted him 
with the obvious remark, that such were 
generally those that lived the longest. 

In the yard of a large grist mill, 
through which the road passed, I sat 
down to rest my sell', among the work 
people, wlio were employed at their dif- 
ferent occupations, I soon perceived that 
one of them noticed me, particularly ; and 
I was just going to continue my journey, 
to avoid interroo^ation, when he asked me 
with more responsibility, than his appear- 
ance indicated ; if I would not walk into the 
house to rest myself. I assured him, I 
was very well, where I was. Then he 
would have me to come in, and take a 
cup of tea : for the French have learned 
to love tea, in America, though they have 
forgotten the receipt for soupe maigre. I 
civilly declined the ofl'er, wishing to reach 

' A.h ' Sir. I have seen a great deal of misery, in my time. 



117 

Beaiiport, by dinner time, where I knew 
I might lay by, for the day, at a tolerable 
Jnn. 

I now jogged on, without any farther 
adventures, to the inhospitable Inn at 
Montmorency, where, however, the chil- 
dren now brought me plates of wild 
strawberries, for which I paid thom, to 
their hearts' content. These Canadian 
strawberries arc so very small, that I did 
not always lliiuk ilriecebsary lupull off die 
stems, but ate them sometimes, by hand- 
fuls, stems, and all. Here they had been 
picked clean, and were served up to me, 
like a delicacy, which they really are. 

Knowing this was no place to dine at, 
I went on, after a nap in my chair, and 
reached Bcauport, as the Family were 
sitting down to table. So I dined with 
them, as I could, upon salt fish, without 
eggs: for it was meagre day. The 



]18 

bread, however, was now eatable, for 
there is a baker in the village. 

Next morning, instead of returning 
to Quebec, I concluded to cross the 
Country to Charlebourg: dined there, 
after stopping at the Church, where I 
was glad to shelter myself from a driz- 
zling rain; and in the afternoon pro- 
ceeded to 



THE IXDI.iX yiLL.\GE OF LORETTO 

but was obliged to stop, by the way, 
under a friendly roof, while a smart 
shower refreshed the air. It cleared 
up before night, and I readily found the 
village, by the direction of the Steeple. 

The Canadian Loretto takes its name 
from a representation o( the Holy Houscy 
on its way, through the air, from Beth- 



119 

lehem, in Palestine, under the conduct 
of Angelic guardians ; which the Catho- 
lic founders of this Indian Church, whose 
zeal will, at the present day, be readily 
allowed to be more conspicuous, than 
their judgment, have placed over the 
altar. 



This, may I be permitted to observe, 
by the way, is little better than initiating 
the Hindoos, in the Christian faith, by 
explaining, or rather attempting to ex- 
plain, the mystery of Election and Re- 
probation, by an arbitrary election of 
Some, and rejection of Others : Whereas, 
the election of which the Scriptures speak 
(although in some parts, they are hard 
to be understood — and the Unlearned 
wrest them to their own destruction.) — The 
Election of Grace, is wiiversal, being in 
Christ, the Seed of Jacob, the Second- 
Adam — the quickening Spirit; and the 
rejection or reprobation, is of £"501/, a figure 
of the first-born, or natural Man — not in 



120 

Some ; but M. For it is a literal truth, 
that Flesh and Blood cantiot inherit the 
Kingdom of God. We must be born 
again. We must, actually,/??// on Christ ; 
or we shall never be saved by him : for 
he came to save his people /roni their 
sins — not in them. — Know ye riot., that 
Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be Repro- 
bates ? " These are hard sayings," 

said the Jews, — " Who can bear them ?" 

Perhaps these Children of Nature 
had better have been left to *' the Great 
Spirit," whom their Fathers worshipped^ 
however ignorantly ; and their intuitive 
belief in, " the Land of Souls," than to 
have been thus impressed with one of 
the idlest impositions of ancient super- 
stition. 

The village consists, besides the 
Church, which appears now to be much 
neglected, of forty or fifty square houses, 
standing separate from each other, with 



121 

i»paccs between, which serve both for 
streets and jards, to the listless Inhabi- 
tants. Some young Men were lounging 
about. A girl, as lleet as a fawn, fro- 
licked round them, occasionally, and 
the children were at some noisy play. 

These simple People are of the Hu- 
ron Tribe, and they have long been ci- 
vilized, or rather naturalized, among 
the French in Canada. They have lost 
their native habits of contempt for la- 
bour, and fondness for war ; and now 
live, much in the Canadian manner, 
though they preserve the Indian dress, 
as less constraining to their limbs. 

They occupy about two hundred 
acres, I was told, of their own ; but 
depend, more willingly, upon the pre- 
carious chances of hunting and fishing; 
having recourse, when those fail them, 
to hiring themselves out, for bread? 
among the neighbouring Farmers, 



122 

Under such circumstances they are 
last forgetting the traditions of their An- 
cestors, which are no longer preserved 
by behs of wampum ; and renewed, by 
periodical revival, during the solemni- 
ties of a Council fire. — Even the song, 
and the dance, are now only taken up, 
at distant intervals, to the monotonous 
sound of Yo ! He ! Waw ! in perpetual 
repetition, to gratify the curiosity of 
European Visitors, with the ferocious 
attitudes, and frantic gestures, of tri- 
umphant massacre. 

The next day, being the Sabbath, I 
should have gone to Church, with the 
Indians ; but there was to be no service ; 
and I should have staid to dinner, with 
my host; but there was no meat in the 
house: so I concluded to go to the 
French Church, half a mile distant ; 
after visiting the Falls of St. Charles, 
called by the Natives Cabir Coubat, to 
express the abrupt turns which the 



123 

liver here makes, as it descends, with a 
shrill concussion, through narrow tun- 
nels which it has worn in the rocks, till 
it loses itself to the eye, amid overhang- 
ing pines. 

On the road to Church, the peasant- 
ry were collecting, in great numbers. 
They were decently, but coarsely clad, 
in jackets and trousers of grey coating ; 
and the youth were amusing themselves 
with harmless sports, till the bell rung 
for mass, for there was to be no ser- 
mon ; the Priests finding it easier to 
perform their accustomed rig-ma-role 
of the Mass ; than to task their inge- 
nuity with the composition of a dis- 
course, adapted to the uninformed si- 
tuation of their Parishioners; who are 
thus, literally, left to perish for hck of 
knowledge. 

We had what is called High Mass, 
that is to say, the ceremonies of the 



12i 

Mass were accompanied with singing ; 
They are sometimes performed in ap- 
parent silence, the Priests alone utter- 
ing certain parts of the ritual, in a low 
voice, not designed to be heard hy the 
Congregation. And there was much 
smoaking of incense, and sprinkling of 
holi^ tvaicrj a practice so very puerile, 
that it is difficult for a Protestant to be- 
hold it, without a feeling of contempt 
for the operator. — 

But the rehearsal of a language, that 
has ceased to be spoken, ever since the 
decay of the Roman Empire ; and whicli 
therefore involves a period of at least 
fitleen hundred years, is a solemn com- 
mentary upon the lapse of ages. 

1 consider this perpetuation of a dead 
language (however absurd it may ap- 
pear, in practice) as an unbroken link, in 
the chain of history : that attaches. with 
irresistible conviction, the J^'ew Tes- 



125 

lament Dispensation to that o( tke Old : 
and I reverence it, in the order of Pro- 
vidence, as I do the Jews ; that peculiar 
People — prepared of the Lord^ for the in- 
troduction, into the Worlds of his otdy be- 
gotten Son ; by whose Genealogies, and 
Prophetic annunciations, (however un- 
wittingly, on their part) we are assured 
of the birth of the Messiah; which 
was to be (I appeal to JMoses, and the 
Prophets) before the kingdom should de- 
part from Judah — before the Dailu Sacri- 
fice should be taken awai/ — and whilst it 
was yet possible, to trace the descent 
of the King of IsraeL from the House of 
David, and the Tribe of Judah. 

And if the true Believer cannot but 

contemn the mummery of superstition, 

engrafted by Priestcraft: upon Primitive 

simplicity ; it may yet excite his wonder, 

that the decayed Fabric of Christianity 

should have stood the shock of reibr- 

mation ; and been restored in the Prc- 
L 2 



126 

testant Professions to new life and vi- 
gour. 



The rocks which compose the chain 
of mountains, which forms an immense 
amphitheatre behind the village of Lo- 
retto, and terminates in the Promontory 
of Cape Tourment, consist, I am told, 
of a quartz of the colour of amber, 
sometimes white, with a black glimmer, 
and a few grains of brown spar. Not 
far from the point of the Cape, there is 
said to be a considerable Lake, upon 
the summit of the mountain. 

I was now nine miles north of the St. 
Lawrence, upon a commanding eleva- 
tion, from which there is an unbounded 
view of the great river, in its course to- 
ward the ocean; of the heights of 
Quebec, and its glittering roofs and 
spires, whose reflection is too poweiful 
for the eye, even at this distance; of the 



127 

Island of Orleans; of the Soutberw 
Coast ; and, far beyond all, of the long 
chain of Mountains, uhich separates 
Canada from the United States. — 

Nothing can be more sublime than 
this uninterrupted view of one of the 
greatest Rivers in the World, it being 
five miles wide, where it is unequally 
divided by the Island of Orleans, which 
is upwards of three hundred, from the 
sea. 

You trace the channel as far as 
Cape Tourment, a bluff nearly perpen- 
dicular, which rises to a height of two 
thousand feet, and is distinctly visible, 
in its majestic outline, at the distance 
of forty miles; abruptly terminating, 
to the eye, the dim seen mountains, that 
bound the horizon, at an unknown dis- 
tance, for at least as many leagues, 
allowing to the ravished eye, at one 



128 

protracted glance, a softened view ot' 
the tremendous precipices, 

Which pour a sweep of rivers from their sides j 
And, higli beiween contending Nations, rear 
The rocky, long, division. 

I now set out, in good spirits, for 
Quebec, refreshed myself at Charle- 
bourg, and reached town as the bells 
were tolling for seven o'clock- the hour 
at which the Churches are closed. Here 
I supped deliciously upon fresh Salmon, 
after the poor fare I had met with, in 
the country, and I listened, again, at 
nine o'clock, to the penetrating trum- 
pets, by which the hour of retirement 
is sounded every night. 

THE FIRST BISHOP OF QUEBEC 

was a Montmorency, of the noble House 
that has furnished so many Dukes and 
Marshalls of France, in the most bril- 



129 

liant periods of the French Manarchy^ 
I must have somewhere seen his epi- 
taph; though I cannot now recollect 
where: but the celebrated Falls we 
have just visited, were probably called 
after him; and, if so, he may be said to 
have a more splendid monument, than 
any of his illustrious Ancestors. How 
much more durable ! Since those were 
probably overturned in the fury of the 
Revolution, whilst the resplendent Cata- 
ract, faithful to its trusty will perpetuate 
the name of the good Bishop, to the 
end of the world. 

Quebec is subjected to frequent 
rains by the neighbouring mountains, 
which arrest the clouds in its vicinity ; 
and it has little to boast of, in summer, 
though the days are \eTj long, fram its 
high northern latitude, (46. 55.) The sun 
now rises about 4 o'clock, and sets 
about 8. — The winter is allowed to be 
the season of enjoyment here. — 



130 

A sufficient stock of meat and poultry 
is killed, when the cold sets in, which it 
usually does in November, continuing 
without intermission till April ; and 
sometimes encroaching upon May. The 
snow then usually lies upon the ground 
from four to six feet deep. The meat» 
as well as every thing else, that is ex- 
posed to the cold, instantly freezes; 
and it is thus kept, without further trou- 
ble, till it is wanted. 

As the snows fall, the Inhabitants turn 
out to keep the road open, that their 
intercourse with their neighbours may 
not be impeded. The air is constantly 
serene and healthful; the nights are 
illuminated with the Aurora borealis; 
and the time is spent in giving and re- 
turning visits, between town and coun- 
try. Dancing parties are frequently 
formed, by the young people, at one 
another's houses; and the gay scene 
is at its height, when the great river 



131 

freezes over, as it sometimes does, from 
side to side. The Island of Orleans is 
then accessible, and everj body turning 
out upon the " pont," as thej call it, on 
skates, or else in sleds and carrioles. 

The then gay land is maddened all to joy. 

Spring at length opens, suddenly; the 
ice breaks up, with tremendous crashes; 
and vegetation follows, with surprising 
rapidity, as soon as the surface of the 
ground is clear of snow. 

Such they say, is occasionally, the 
extremity of the cold, that wine freezes 
even in apartments heated by stoves, 
the pipes of which are conveyed 
through every room. Brandy exposed 
to the air will thicken to the consist- 
ence of oil; and the quick silver of 
thermometers condenses to the bulb, 
and may possibly congeal, for even 
Mercury freezes at 39 degrees below 
the beginning of Fahrenheit* 



132 

Heavy snows come in October. During- 
November they sometimes continue fall- 
ing, for weeks together; and when the 
cold at length purifies the atmosphere, the 
moon-ligrht nights are almost as brilliant 
as the day ; for the sun cannot rise very 
liisrh, between ei^ht in the morninsf, and 
four in the afternoon ; and the full moon, 
reflected by the snow and ice, is bright 
enough to admit of reading the smallest 
print. 

The roads which would have been ut- 
terly impassable had they not been kept 
beaten, as the snows fell, and marked 
across the undistinguishing waste by pine 
bushes, stuck in from space to space, now 
harden to the consistence of ice, under 
the runners of the Carrioles ; which seem 
to flit, in air, as they wliirl along the im- 
patient Passenger (mulfled up in furs, till 
nothing appears but the tip of liis nose) 
at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an 
hour. 



133 

One ot' the amusements of winter Is to 
go a fishing upon the ice. For this 
purpose large openings are made, in cer- 
tain places, which the fish are kno^vn to 
frequent. The broken ice is piled up, 
arch wise, to shelter the fisheimen from 
the wind ; and the fish, coming hither for 
air, are easily caught, especially at night; 
when the Men use lights, and sometimes 
kindle fires ; which attract the fish to the 
circle, and produce a singular effect, at a 
distance, through the hollow masses of 
transparent ice, the angles of which glit- 
ter, on your approaching them, as if they 
were hung witli diamonds. 

Notwithstanding this extraordinary fri- 
2:iditv% Canada lies in the same latitude 
with the smilins: Provinces of old France. 
The greater degree of cold upon the New 
Continent, must be attributed to the land 
stretching aAvay to the vicinity of the Pole, 
with little intervening sea; and expanding 

M 



134 

at the same time very far to the west. — 
The whole rano-e of winter winds, there- 
fore, from N. E. to N. W. passing over but 
little sea to divest them of their rigour, 
gather fresh cold, in traversing immense 
tracts of snow and ice. 

The Episcopal Cathedral, a handsome 
buildinor, erected at a great expense (1 be- 
hove of Royal munificence) upon the spot 
once occupied by the Convent and Clois- 
ters of the RecoUets, or Franciscan Friars, 
is now undergoing a reparation which 
marks ostensibly the peculiarities of the 
Climate. 

This Structure is of Grecian Architect- 
ure (lonick, if I remember right) fuiished 
with the broad entablature, and low pedi- 
ment, prescribed by the rules of that 
order: but its flat roof has been found 
incapable of supporting the weight of 
snow, which annually rests upon it ; and 



13j 

to render the building tight and coml'orta- 
ble. it has been found necessary to sjK)il 
its elegant proportions, hj raising the 
roof, at least ten feet higher. 

The Steeple of this Church, though 
on a smaller scale, is evidently modelled 
fixjm that of Christ Church, Pliiladelphia, 
which is the handsomest strucim-e of the 
spire kind, that ever I saw, in any part of 
the World : uniting in the peculiar fea- 
tures of that sj>ecies of architecture, the 
most elegant variety of forms, with the 
most chaste simplicity of combination. It 
is allowed by all Foreigners to do great 
credit to the taste and talents of the 
Architect. [Robert Smilh.^ 

Quebec is much nearer to Boston, than 
it is to Halifax, or St. Joh/is. By the 
route of tlie Chaudiere, and the Kenne- 
beck, it is no more than three hundred 
and seventy miles to the capital of JS'ew 



136 

\i but ii b not les5 tksn iis. hun- 
dred and tvrcnty-seven to ikci of .^Wc 
Sfo/ia, by the road which iiths traced by 
General Hcldimaiid in the year 1783. to 
St. Johns in Ne\v BniD>wick. ihence cros^s- 
ing the Bay of Fundy u> Haliiax ; but it 
i> even now bardy practicable ; stretch- 
ing for the most part« across umnhabited 
dcsarts. 

By Craig's road, which was cut by the 
ccfnmand of Sir James, when Goreroor 
General, in 1809, toward the American 
ironiier ; but which remains still unfmish- 
ed^ it would be only two hundred mdes /o 
IhMnttS. a town on the Keimebeck. firom 
whence that river is narigable to the sea. 
It is but seventy nules ln>m the out settle- 
ments on the KennebecJk. to the French 
posts on die ririene du Loup, a hnnch of 
tke Chaudiere — ^the countrj between, 
moimtainous and nur^^. but intersected 
bT rivers and streams. 



137 

I now prepared for mr return, bj 
^ - - - -^ > ;>« to take the caleche. the 

^ rt diabe* thatlmigbi hare 

the better opportunitv of seeing the 
Coontrv. and obserrii^ tbe mawiefs of 
ibe People : though I had been almost 
discoaraged £tom tbe attoapc, by ap- 
prebeosioiis of impositioQ from the po^ 
masters and postillion^, whom I sop- 
posed to be no better than their Bre- 
thren in Europe : and the certaintjr. that 
this mode of (XMaverance would cost 
me at least twice as much, as a passage 
in the Steam Boat : the &re on board of 
which, up the river, is but iwrfre dol- 
lars, including erenr thing, ;^ten dollars 
down."^ Passengers are also pioxided 
for in the steerage^ on board of these 
boats^ at one-qoarter of tbe price. 

I left Quebec with a confirmed opi- 
nioiL that, akhoogh its citadel, reputed 
the strongest ibrtification in Amenca. 



138 

with its hundreds of heavy cannon, and 
its thousands ot well-disciplined troops, 
might possiblv, in future wars, between 
the two countries (which Heaven avert) 
fall a prey to American enterprise, and 
intrepidity ; yet the conquest would cost 
infinitely more than it could be worth ; 
and must be with difficulty maintained, 
against the re-action of the greatest 
Naval Power on earth, to whose ap- 
proaches by sea it must ever remain ac- 
cessible. 

I say not the same of Upper Canada, 
whose Population is, or will be, essen- 
tially American : and whose attachment 
to the Govenmient of Great Britain 
must inevitably yield to the habits, and 
opinions, of their Continental neigh- 
bours. In short, I may venture to pre- 
dict, with little apprehension of con- 
troversy, that by the next competition 
between England and America, if it be 
not very hastily brought on, Upper Ca- 



A\ 



Hada will be nearly Americanised. 
Montreal iiself will have become to all 
efficient purposes an American town ; 
the French population there, will gra- 
dually assimilate, or disappear; unless, 
indeed, French Canada should be con- 
solidated by National Independence; 
and the eventual boundary of Lower 
Canada w ill probably be the Sorel, on 
one side, and the St. Maurice, on the 
other ;* leaving to his Majesty of Great 

This b a lim of deanarcatioD, sot merelv superficial' 
bat which has been traced oat. for hundreds of miies. by 
navisiable waters: whose course, from North to Sonth, is 
marked by a perceptible variauoa of soil and climate. — 
There ii » dUerence of iix weeks, in the opening of S^Tinj, 
between Montreal (where the seasons do not differ maieri- 
ally. ijnom the meridian of Kingston > and the pet^i^^ing 
AVinter of Quebec. Ti;ere is at least half that difference 
between the Island of Monlreal. and the Eastern side of the 
Rivers above mentioned : and I shall ventare to sar it, (how- 
ever imaginary the fact may seeai) that an observant Tra- 
veller, ia ascending the St. Lawrence, can hcirdly fail to 
mark the variation, in the looks and manners of the Peo- 
ple ; as soon as he crosses this line, by the wide ferry, 
which appears to traverse the mouths of three rivers ; aa 
ulusion occasioned by two Islands that here divide the 5t 
>feimc?: into three <fi£Ferent Channe';. 



140 

Britain and his Successors, the sterile 
and inhospitable shores, that stretch — 

To farthest Lapland and the frozen Main. 

Canada is as costly a feather in the 
Royal cap, as any other of the Impe- 
rial trappings ; and why should Repub- 
licans volunteer their services to pre- 
vent its being paid for beyond its value ? 

Yet, if the useless expenditure of 
Men or Money — if the unnecessary 
waste of Thousands of the former, and 
millions of the latter, should ever be al- 
lowed to enter into the calculations of 
Courts, and Cabinets. — If, in short, it 
had been ever known, that Nations, or 
rather Ministers, should voluntarily re- 
linquish Power, when once obtained, 
by whatever means, or for whatever 
purpose ; I should not think it altogether 
hopeless to recommend it, as the policy 
of Britain, in case of another War, 



with America, to relinquish Upper Ca- 
nada; and leave the French to their own 
government^ as an Independent Nation : 
withdrawing all future protection and 
support from their North American 
Provinces ; excepting those of New- 
Brunswick, and Nova-Scotia, with their 
dependencies; which, being on the sea 
board, may be easily defended, if ever 
they should be attacked ; and which would 
continue to afford to Great Britain all 
the benefits she ever drew, or could ex- 
pect to draw, from the possession of 
Canada : — An acquisition which be- 
came worse than useless to England, 
from the moment of the Declaration of 
Independence, by her adjacent Pro- 
vinces, now the United States. 

Her gigantic Navy would preserve its 
nursery — the Fisheries of New-Found- 
land ; the Territories of New-Bruns- 
wick and Nova-Scotia could be main- 
tained, without the enfeebling strain of 



142 

perpetual exertion ; and Canada would 
be no longer, what it must ever be, 
while it remains a British Province — a 
bone to pick, between England and Ame- 
rica — or a shell for the lot of cither Par' 
ty^ while the oyster is thrown away be- 
tween them. 

Let not these ideas be rejected, with 
contempt, as altogether visionary, (how- 
ever unpalatable they may be in Eng- 
land.) — Trans-atlantic dominion can 
never be perpetual in the heart of the 
American Continent — however long, or 
however cheaply, it may be maintained, 
upon the peninsula of Nova-Scotia ; in 
the secluded recesses of New-Holland ; 
(though they embrace another Continent^ 
— in the West-lnAxes -, or in the East. — 

As soon as the native Population of 
Upper Canada (and soon it will, in a 
clime, and upon a soil, whereon the 
principle of life is evidently susceptible 



U3 

of its utmost vigour) becomes sufficient- 
ly numerous to make self-government, 
(the natural right of all distinct asso- 
ciations of Men) convenient, and desi- 
rable ; all the power of Britain cannot 
delay the event ; whenever another 
Franklin shall arise, at Toronto, or on 
the borders of the Lakes ; to enlighten 
the minds of his Countrymen, with Poli- 
tical truth; and direct their efforts to- 
wards the acquisition of National Inde- 
pendence. 

How much iviser then would it be 
(to say nothing of humanity, Christian- 
ity^ and so forth — since those princi- 
ples are not allowed to obtain, among 
JVattons, who, individually,, profess their 
obligation) to permit the course of nature 
to take place, without a struggle ? — Natu- 
ral Parents take delight in the Indepen- 
dence of their Offspring. Will Mother- 
Countries, as they proudly call them- 



141 

selves, always insist upon the perpetual 
Subjugation of their Colonial Progeny ? 

This, if I may be allowed to dilate 
the figure, is acting the part of a Step- 
Mother — who has but an equivocal 
claim to Filial obedience. 

Upper Canada, or British America, is 
proudly stretched by English Geogra- 
phers, from the shores of the Atlantic, 
to the Southern Ocean ; and the bound- 
less pretension serves to colour, with 
red. upon the map of the world, a great 
part of the Northern Hemisphere, un- 
til it whitens at the Pole. But Upper 
Canada, Proper, or that part of it which 
is at all likely to be inhabited during 
the present Generation, is a fertile Ter- 
ritory, lying under a temperate sky, of 
about equal dimensions with the State 
of New-York, which already contains 
a Million of Souls ; and upon which it 



145 

bounds, both above and below Lake On- 
tario, for a space of one or two hundred 
miles. 

This extensive tract is isolated^ by 
Nature, between the Ottawa River, 
a branch of the St. Lawrence, and Lake 
Nipissing, with its outlet, called French 
River, emptying into Lake Huron, on 
the North ; the broad expanse of Lake 
Huron, on the North and West; Jind 
Lakes Erie, and Ontario, toward the 
South. 

Upper Canada presents a solecism, 
in politics; as well as a paradox, in 
geography. An Island^ or at least a 
Peninsula^ in the heart of a Continent: 
Its prosperity, as a Nation, will be its 
ruin as a Province. The stronger it grows^ 
the weaker it will become, as a Depen- 
dency of Britain. — Let her beware of 
enumeration — David was under a delu- 
sion when he numbered Israel. 

N 



]46 

I would not be counted an Enemy of 
England, because I tell her unwelcome 
truths. I am a Friend to Britain ; and 
have ever been proud of my descent, 
from the first Nation upon Earth. 

This tWa/ec? Territory, or if you will, 
Peninsula, at a distance of a thousand 
miles from any Sea, is now settling — 
not with English, ; but with jimericanSi 
who pass into it by thousands, through 
the ample isthmus which separates 
Lake Erie from Lake Ontario — and a 
Man must shut his eyes, not to see the 
inevitable consequence. 

It appears, from history, that in the 
year 1629, the infant Province of Ca- 
nada was taken from the French by the 
English : but it was then held in little 
estimation, (as it would have been in 
1759, if it had not been a security for 
the peace of the adjacent Provinces) 
and, three years afterward, the unpro- 
fitable possession was restored to its 



147 

rightful Owners. — The British Crown 
(it Avas worn by Charles I.) was then^ it 
' seems, ivise enough to relinquish Canada, 
as an acquisition not iwrth the expense of 
maintaining ; and if it should even- 
tually do so again, by its own act, the 
deed will not be without a precedent. 

If Canada was then worth less than it 
is now — How much less did it cost ?* 

RETURN TO MONTREAL. BY LAND. 

I WAS a little fretted upon leaving 
Quebec, at the unexpected demand of 
the Poste Royale. which has been care- 



* Charlevoix says, with amusing simplicity, that the 
French King would not have reclaimed La Kouvelle France, 
considering it as a Possession that was a burthen to the 
Crown, (the advances exceeding the returns) but for the sake 
of being instrumental in converting the Natives to Chris* 
tianity ; a deed which was in that age thought no less meri- 
torious, than had been, in the days of Lewis IX. that of 
dispossessing the Infidels of the Sepulchre of Christ. [See 
vol T. p. 17*3 



148 

i'aWy transferred to Canada, by the bre- 
thren of the whip : but no other imposi- 
tion did I suffer, till I reached Montreal. 
Every Post Boy took his established 
fare, one-quarter of a dollar per league, 
and looked for no gratuity. The two 
first Postillions had *io whips. Not one 
of them swore at their horses, invaria- 
bly managing the obedient animals with, 
nothing more than, " Marche done !" 
There was no liquor at the Post Houses, 
not even where they professed to en- 
tertain Travellers, for the Police regu- 
lations are here very strict, against un- 
necessary tippling houses ; and instead 
of calling for something to drink, at 
every stage, the Post Boys invariably 
sat down, and smoked a pipe, in fa- 
miliar conversation with the People of 
the house. — One of them was deaf — of 
course, he was silent; but the next 
hummed a tune, with incessant volubi- 
lity ; and a third — whistled, as he went^ 
for want of thought. 



153 

on the opposite peak of Point Levy) 
formed a junction with General Mont- 
gomery, who, having possessed himself, 
almost without resistance, of the Castle 
of Chamblee, and the Town of St. Johns, 
had entered Montreal, in triumph, and 
descended the St. Lawrence to this point 
— Sir Guy Carleton fleeing before him 
in a boat with muffled oars. Thus scour- 
ing in a few weeks, the whole Province 
of Canada, to this short distance from 
its Capital. Montgomery had a Regi- 
ment of Canadians in his train, for the 
French Peasantry had, at the breaking 
out of the war, refused to arm against 
their Neighbours, and were disposed to 
favour the American cause; notwith- 
standing it appeared among them in the 
equivocal guise of successful invasion. 

The Postillion that conducted me to 
the river Jacques Cartier was quite a 
humourist. He replied to my first inqui- 
ries about the state of the Country: 



154 

** Monsieur, Cest le pays le plus aimable, 
*' pour la misere, que vous trouverez nulle 
♦' part. On Iravaille beaucoup pour gag- 
" ner peu. Oh ! cest une occupation que 
" la vie, ici, Je vous en assure. Nous 
" avons un petit bout d'ete et done, tout 
" de suite, la gele, qui vient toujours a la 
" St. Michel [the 29th of September] 
" Quelque fols pendaant la Recolte meme. 
" Toujours avant la Tous Saints,"* [the 
1st November.] 

I asked him his age, thinking he might 
be about sixty. — " Monsieur, J'ai qua 
" rante ans, juste."t I told him I was 
fifty. " Mais vous avez Tair plus jeune 
" que moi. Et comme vous avez de 
" I'embonpoint ! Je pense que vous 

* Sir, it is the most charming country for misery, that 
you shall find any where. We work a great deal to earn a 
little. — Oh ! Life is an occupation, here, I assure you. We 
have a little bit of summer, and then directly comes frost ; 
which happens always by St. Michael's day. Sometimes in 
harvest — Always by All Saints. 

t Sir. Ism forty years ©Id. 



155 

" devez venir de Boston ? Les Boston- 
*' nois sont tous de gros hommes (He 
" was himself a little fellow of five feet 
" three) Vos chevauxaussi sont grands. 
" Les nutres sont petits, petits. Mais 
" nous les faisons aller a toutes jam- 
" bes."* (We were now descending a 
hill, at the rate of ten or twelve miles 
an hour, I thought at the imminent 
risque of our necks.) " Comme les 
" hommes de notre pays, Ton est ob- 
" lige de fair plus q'on ne peut."t 

I inquired how the French liked the 
English ? " Comme 9a ! Messieurs les 
" Anglois," were very brave, generous, 
and so forth. " Mais ils ne sont pas 
" polis, comme les Francois. Quelque 

* But you look younger than I do ; and in what good case 
you are. I think you must be from Boston. The Bostoners 
(a general term here for Americans) are all big men. Your 
horses too are large. Ours are very, very, little : but we 
make them lay leg to it. 

t Like tlie men of our country, they are obliged to do 
more than they can. 



156 

" fois aussi ils ne sont pas de bonne hu- 
" meur. lis se mettent en colere sou- 
•' vent sans savoir pourquoi."* 

Were the Canadians content under 
the British Government ? " Oh pour 
" 9a, oui ! I'on ne sauroient etre mieux." 
" — Y a t il loin, Monsieur, d'iei a Phi- 
" ladelphie ?"t Answer, two hundred 
leagues. " C'est bien loin. — Mais ce 
" doit etre un bien beau pays."J 

We had by this time reached the 
little River Jacques Cartier, so called 
from the first explorer of the Saint Law- 
rence, who wintered here in 1535, on 
his return down the river. It here dis- 



* Pretty well — but they are not polite like the French. 
Sometimes they are fretful. They often get angry, without 
knowing why. 

t Oh yes, for that matter. We could not be better. — Is it 
far from here to Philadelphia ? 

t That is a great way — But it must be a very fine country. 
[The word Philadelphia is here synonimous with Pennsyl- 
vania.) 



157 

cmbogues itself between steep banks, 
with a rapid current. . 

I was set over this wild ferry, in a 
small canoe, just before dark, and had 
to find my way, with my baggage in my 
hand, as well as I could, up the oppo- 
site hill. (Its rugged heights had been 
fortified to oppose the descent of the 
English in the year 1760.) I was re- 
ceived, however, at the Inn (one of the 
best on the road) as well as iff had ar- 
rived in a coach and four. 

I inquired after the Salmon Leap, 
for which this river is famous. They 
had just begun to appear. Two had 
been caught at the Falls that morning ; 
but they had been sold. For how much ? 
Three-quarters of a dollar apiece. 

Salmon have been caught here 
weighing from thirty to forty pounds. 



158 

They are impatient of the heat, which 
prevails in the great river, at the time 
of their arrival, and dart eagerly up the 
cool streams of the smaller rivers; with 
a view to deposit their spawn, in places 
of security. When a rapid, or cataract, 
obstructs their passage, which is often 
the case, in Canada, they will leap ten 
or fifteen feet at a time, to get over 
it; and these powerful fish are some- 
times seen struggling with insurmount- 
able obstacles, against which they will 
leap six or seven times, if as often 
thrown back into the adverse current. 

Upon my expressing a wish to have 
some Salmon for breakfast, the Men 
said they would go out in the morning, 
and try to catch one for me. By the 
time I got up they had brought in a fine 
one, weighing twelve or thirteen 
pounds. 



159 

I breakfasted, with an excellent re- 
lish, and passed lightly through Cap 
Sante, Port JSeuf^ and Dechambault ; 
observing a large old Mansion house, 
upon the right ; upon the left, a grove 
of trees, near a small Church. 

At the River St. Anne there was a 
large Church, unusually situated, front- 
ing the water. As I crossed a wide 
ferry, a groupe of Indian boys were 
amusing themselves on the shore, half 
naked, a wig warn near. 

At Battiscan, another large River, 
not many miles from this, there was an 
Indian encampment. Several comfort- 
able wig wams stood close together. 
The Females belonging to this tribe, 
very decently dressed, in their fashion, 
were industriously occupied, under the 
trees ; while children of all ages were 
playing upon the beach. 



156 

" fois aussi ils ne sont pas de bonne hu- 
" meur. Ils se mettent en colere sou- 
" vent sans savoir pourquoi."* 

Were the Canadians content under 
the British Government ? " Oh pour 
" 9a, oui ! Ton ne sauroient etre mieux." 
" — Y a t il loin, Monsieur, d'iei a Phi- 
" ladelphie ?"t Answer, two hundred 
leagues. " C'est bien loin. — Mais ce 
" doit etre un bien beau pajs."J 

We had by this time reached the 
little River Jacques Cartier, so called 
from the first explorer of the Saint Law- 
rence, who wintered here in 1535, on 
his return down the river. It here dis- 



''Preltywell — but they are not polite like the French. 
Sometimes they are fretful. They often get angry, without 
knowing why. 

t Oh yes, for that matter. We could not be better. — Is it 
far from here to Philadelphia.'' 

t That is a great way — But it must be a very fine country. 
[The word Philadelphia is here synonimous with Pennsyl- 
vania.} 



/ 



157 

cinbogues itself between steep banks, 
with a rapid current. . 

I was set over this wild ferry, in a 
small canoe, just before dark, and had 
to find my way, with my baggage in my 
hand, as well as I could, up the oppo- 
site hill. (Its rugged heights had been 
fortified to oppose the descent of the 
English in the year 17C0.) I was re- 
ceived, however, at the Inn (one of the 
best on the road) as well as if 1 had ar- 
rived in a coach and four. 

I inquired after the Salmon Leap, 
for which this river is famous. They 
had just begun to appear. Two had 
been caught at the Fails that morning ; 
but they had been sold. For how much ? 
Three-quarters of a dollar apiece. 

Salmon have been caught here 
weighing from thirty to forty pounds, 
o 



158 

They are impatient of the heat, which 
prevails in the great river, at the time 
of their arrival, and dart eagerly up the 
cool streams of the smaller rivers; with 
a view to deposit their spawn, in places 
of security. When a rapid, or cataract, 
obstructs their passage, which is often 
the case, in Canada, they will leap ten 
or fifteen feet at a time, to get over 
it; and these powerful fish are some- 
times seen struggling with insurmount- 
able obstacles, against which they will 
leap six or seven times, if as often 
thrown back into the adverse current. 

Upon my expressing a wish to have 
some Salmon for breakfast, the Men 
said they would go out in the morning, 
and try to catch one for me. By the 
time I got up they had brought in a fine 
one, weighing twelve or thirteen 
pounds. 



159 

I breakfasted, with an excellent re- 
lish, and passed lightly through Cap 
Sante, Port JSeuf, and Dechambault ; 
observing a large old Mansion house, 
upon the right; upon the left, a grove 
of trees, near a small Church. 

At the River St. Anne there was a 
large Church, unusually situated, front- 
ing the water. As I crossed a wide 
ferry, a groupe of Indian boys were 
amusing themselves on the shore, half 
naked, a wig warn near. 

At Battiscan, another large River, 
not many miles from this, there was an 
Indian encampment. Several comfort- 
able wig warns stood close together. 
The Females beloncjingr to this tribe, 
very decently dressed, in their fashion, 
were industriously occupied, under the 
trees ; while children ot^ all ages were 
playing upon the beach. 



160 

The men, I was told, were out a hunt- 
ing. They catch Beaver, Otters, Rac- 
coons, Opossums, and other wild animals, 
such as Hares, Rabbits, Deer, and some- 
times Bears -y — upon which, together with 
Fish from the river, such as Sturgeon, 
Salmon, Pike, Perch, &c. they often feast 
luxuriously, while the inactive Canadians 
are sitting down to scanty portions of 
bacon and eggs. [See the Appendix, No. 
I. for a particular account of the Beaver 
of Canada.] 

Of the feathered game, with "which 
these woods and waters abound, in their 
season, I may mention Wild Geese, an 
endless variety of Ducks, Wood-Cocks, 
Plover, Quails, Wild-Turkeys, Heath- 
Hens. Wild-Pio-cons, in inconceivable 
abundance. The Eagle, the Stork, and 
the Crane, are not unknown in Canada, 
though rare, these noble birds sedulously 



161 

keeping themselves out of danger, in un- 
frequented wilds. 

During my progress, I was frequently 
amused with the simple naivete of the 
Post Boys, one of whom was only twelve 
years old ; but had already driven several 
years. 

" Comment vas ton Pere ? Barrabie,"* 
said one of them to a boy that followed us, 
on horseback, apparently for the pleasure 
of company. 

" Je veux boire un peu d'eau,"t said 
another, as he stopped short at a spring 
by the road side, without leave or licence. 

" Si vous vous voulez aller plus vite, 
"' passez avant,"J said one that was re» 

' How is your Father ? Barrabie. 

t I will take a drink of water. 

t If you want to go faster, drive on. 

o 2 



162 

turning empty, to the boy that was driving 
me, and whom wc had quietly followed 
at his own paces, for some time. 

" Pour quoi courcz vous a pied ?" — 
said another, to a little fellow that was 
running after us, for his own pleasure. 
" Montez derriere."* 

Observinc: larorer barns than usual, as 
I advanced, and a good grazing country, 
though the cattle looked very pmall and lean, 
(there were but few Sheep in the whole 
route,) I asked my Man whether they 
had begun to mow, in those parts. It 
was near the borders of Lake St. Pierre. 
•• Non, Monsieur," said he, " Ccla ne 
•• se fait jamais avant la St. Anne,t [the 
26th of July.] Every thing goes by Saints 
here. I now observed frequent patches 
of flax, barley, and oats -, but very little 
wheat, or corn. 

* Why do you run a foot? Get up behind. 

i No sir. We never mow before St. Anne's day. 



I6S 

Toward evening we approached 

THREE RIVERS; 

*nd I was now obliged to take boat, 
or rather to seat myself upon straw, in 
the bottom of a canoe, to be ferried over 
the mouth of the St. Maurice, a stream 
that flows from the north east, some 
hundreds of miles ; by which the Savages, 
in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay, formerlj 
descended to this Town, in great num- 
bers. 

As we landed upon the beach, there 
was a boat ashore, from a vessel from 
Glasgow. It was interesting to one who 
had been in Scotland, to see the Sailors, 
with their blue bonnets and plaids. 

In the town, which has nothing extra- 
ordinary in its appearance, there is, or 



164 

rather was, a Monastery of Recollets, and 
a Convent of Ursulines. The Monastery 
has long been converted into a Jail; and 
the Convent, having: been burnt down a few 
years since, and wholly rebuilt, has lost 
the prestige of antiquity ; though it was 
founded in 1677, by the same good Bish- 
op that endowed the one at Quebec, for 
the education of young Women, and an 
asylum for the Old and sick. 

A young Girl from the States, (as the 
American Union is familiarly called here) 
brought up a protestant, had taken the 
veil, in this Convent, a few days before 
I was there. 

There is a Superieure and eighteen 
Nuns here; but I was disappointed of 
seeing them, at matins, by that invidious 
curtain, which I have already had oc- 
casion to reprobate. — Nothing was to 
be seen but an old Man, prostrating 



165 

himself before the altar. I was struck 
with something unusual in his manner, 
as he rose from his knees, and passed 
out into the Sacristy. — It was the Abbe 
DE Calonne, brother to the Prime 
Minister of that name, who took refuge 
here during the French Revolution; and 
who now, it seems, thinks himself too 
old to return to France, even to behold 
the restoration of the Throne^ and the 
Mar. 

As 1 returned to the Inn, I met an 
old man of whimsical appearance, with 
a large cocked hat, flapped before. 
I inquired who it might be, and was told 
that he was a Man in his hundred and 
fourth year — that he had been a singu- 
lar humourist — was still fond of his joke, 
and always made a point of flourishing 
his cane, whenever he met a woman j 
whether this was a freak of fondness, or 
aversion, I neglected to inquire. 



166 

There are here severalJenish Fami- 
lies of the names of Hart and Jiidah. 
They are said to be no less respectable 
than the Gratz's of Philadelphia and the 
Gomez's of New-York. The Father of 
the former, when he first came hither, 
could have bought half the town, for a 
thousand pounds, and thought it dear. 
But, property is now becoming valuable. 
It lies on the right side of the St. 
Maurice, as respects the United States; 
being on the road to which, is here 
reckoned a recommendation to Lands on 
sale, jj new Jail and Court House^ are 
erecting, and cross roads are laying out 
into new townships, now settling, in the 
Neighbourhood, with disbanded Sol- 
diers. 

I got all this local information from 
two of his British Majesty's Civil Offi- 
cers; with the exception o^ the recommen- 
dation above hinted at, (I picked that out 



167 

of a newspaper.) TheseGentlemen intro- 
duced themselves to me as King's Coun- 
sel, and Recorder (if I remember right) 
during my evening's ramble from the 
Inn — excused their freedom, as being 
happy to see a new face, and insisted 
upon the pleasure of accompanying me 
round the town. 

The former was a young Gentleman of 
a refugee Family of the name of Ogden, 
originally of New York — The latter, a 
Canadian, of Scotch descent. He led 
the way to his own house, ordered wine 
and water; and pressed me earnestly 
to consent to dine with him, next day. 
He took me for an Englishman just 
landed at Quebec, and deprecated any 
fresh disputes with America. 

The Commissioners for settling the 
boundary line between Canada and the 
United States were said to be setting 
up opposite claims to the vacant terri- 



168 

tones ; which it was observed could 
not be worth disputing about ; but that 
each party on such occasions must 
appear strenuous for the rights of his 
Country. The People here wish for 
nothing more than the estabHshment 
of the line, upon the height of land 
which separates the streams which 
run into the St. Lawrence, from those 
which run southward ; and it is de- 
voutly to be hoped that this deiinite 
barrier, will not be exchanged for a 
line of demarcation, less strongly mark- 
ed by nature, as the northern limit of the 
United States — the preservation of 
which is of infinitely greater importance 
to the peace and welfare of the two 
Countries, than the possession af a few 
millions of useless acres, on one side, or 
the other. 

The Commissioners are collected, it 
seems, at St. Regis, some distance 
above Montreal, where the ideal line 



169 

strikes the St. Lawrence, and from 
thence proceeds westward, up the mid- 
dle of the river, and through the great 
Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Supe- 
rior, to the unexplored Lake of the 
Woods. 

St. Regis is an Indian village — a sort 
of neutral region, where the contending 
Parties will be likely to spend a good 
deal of time; as Ambassadors use to 
do, in disputing for the honour of their 
respective Principals. 

In a shop window of this unfrequented 
place, I saw again, with renewed interest, 
a Caricature of the Fall of Bonaparte; 
with which I remember to have been par- 
ticularly struck, when the event was re- 
cent, in the British Metropolis; where 
this species of substantial wit is carried to 
its utmost perfection. It is not under- 
stood at Paris f where the spirit of satire 
p 



170 

evaporates in a transient pun, or a tem- 
porary distich. 

The little Ravager of the World ap- 
pears on the left of the scene — on the 
right is Atlas, with his Globe. A label 
issuing from the mouth of Bonaparte 
exclaims : " De Prusse be mine. Dei 
" Russe be mine ! All the world will be 
" mine! — If you will only hold it up a little 
" longer. Monsieur Atlas !*' JVb, ?io, replies 
the sturdy Bearer of the World, in vulgar 
English, /'// be hanged if I do. Since you 
wont let it alone. Master Bony, you may 
carry it yourself And as the grim Colos- 
sus launches the monstrous burthen upon 
the little Conqueror, (who kicks up his 
heels, to save his bacon, with ridiculous 
earnestness) his principal Generals Mar- 
mont, Massena, and the rest, with charac- 
teristic levity bid their old Master, "Good 
Night !"* 

* This ludicrous Caricature, reminds me — perhaps not 
inopportunely, of a serious Representation of the great 



171 

Near Three Rivers is an Iron Foun- 
tlery, which has been worked ever since 
the year 1737; and the castings produ- 
ced there are uncommonly neat. The 



Natoleon, which was re-published in America, after the 
first Fall of the Tyrant : and before liis temporary Restora- 
tion. I remember it was on board the ship, in which I 
sailed for Europe, in the spring of 1815; and it had beea 
the subject of my contemplation but a few days before we 
were surprised, in the British Channel, with the incredible 
intelligence, that Bonaparte was again upon the throne of 
France — 

It is a Bust of the Emperor, seen in profile, with his hat 
on his head, and a star upon his breast : 

THE HAT 

Represents the Prussian Eagle, who has settled upon Napo- 
leon's head, and ceases to struggle for release — his neck 
being twisted round, to form, with his crest and beak, a 
Cockade for the Conqueror of the Earth — hitherto invincible. 

THE FACE 
Is ingeniously made out, in every feature, by the Victims of 
his insatiable thirst for glory — the contours of their naked 
limbs forming, without distortion, the physiognomical traits 
of the unfeeling Despot. 

THE COLLAR, which is red, 
typifies the effusion of blood, occasioned by his ambition 
for universal dominion. 

THE COAT 
is interlined with a map, representing the Confederation of 
the Rhine ; on which are delineated, particularly, all thos<! 
places where Napoleon lost battle?. 



-^iia^ 



172 

ore, it seems, lies in horizontal strata, 
and near the surface. It is found in 
perforated masses, the holes of which 
are filled with ochre. This ore is said 
to possess peculiar softness and fria- 
bility. For promoting its fusion, a grey 
limestone is used, which is found in the 
vicinity. The hammered iron from 
these works is pliable and tenacious, 
and it has the valuable quality of being 
but little subject to rust. 

THE STAR, on his breast, 
is o Spider's Wtb, whose threads are extended over all 
Germany. — 

But, in THE EPAULETTE, 

U seen the hand of the Almighty — descending from 

ihe North, and — with a finger — leading the unconscious 
Spider — to that destruction which awaited him — among the 
Siioivs of Russia: For it was neither the Coalition of 1813; 
nor yet that of 1815 : but the retreat from Moscotc, that anni- 
hilated the power of the Tyrant, and dispelled the charm with 
which he was impiously atteniping to bind the destinies of 
Europe. 

^Vhose powerful breath ? — from Northern Regions blown, 
Touches the Sea; and turns it into stone ! — 
A sudden desart sj)reads, o'er Realms defaced; 
And lays one-balf of the Creation waste ? 



173 

The Country is here very flat, and 
the soil a fine sand, mixed with black 
mould. The neighbouring woods 
abound with elm, ash, oak, beech, and 
maple, of which sugar is made in suffi- 
cient quantities, for Home consumption ; 
and those beautiful evergreens, the 
white pine, the cedar, and the spruce, 
are here indigenous in all their varie- 
ties. 

No sooner had I quitted the town of 
Three Rivers, than I perceived indi- 
cations of being on -the road to the 
United States. I am sorry to say it, 
they were not all of them favourable to 
American morals: but there was now 
less bowing, and more frequent inter- 
course ; yet the Inhabitants continued 
to make themselves easy, without the 
trouble of sinking wells, in consequence 
of their convenient proximity to the 
water j and they still appeared to hold 
p 2 



171 

what we esteem — necessaries.^ as unne- 
cessary as ever. 

At Machiche, I delivered the letter 
from my young Friend at Quebec, to 
his worthy Grandmother. I found the 
old Lady in a retired situation, half a 
mile from the road. She was delighted 
to hear from her Grandson ; who, it 
seems, had been out of health. She 
pressed me to stay to dinner — to drink 
something, at least ; and sent for the 
young Gentleman's Brother, to detain 
me. He presently came in, with his 
dog and gun. They resembled each 
other very much. They had both been 
in the army, I was told, but their corps 
had been disbanded. She should make 
a point of letting her. Grandson know, 
that I had done him the honour to call 
upon her. — 

I must have detained the Postillion 
half an hour, but he showed no signs of 



175 

impatience, and never asked me for any 
remuneration, though he had had the 
trouble of opening gates, &c.* 

On approaching the Riviere du Loup, 

I asked him if we crossed it in a 

boat. " Non pas, Monsieur ! II y a 

" un pont superbe /"t I figured to m.y- 

Be\i a model of architectural symmetry 

— something like the superb elevations, 

which have been thrown over the 

I Schuylkill, and the Delaware. — It was 

I a plank causeway, with a single rail on 

I each side, to prevent accidents. 

! 

1 Here I would have dined, having se- 

1 dulously made choice of the best of 
' two Inns for that purpose, but could not 



* I find from Bouchefte that the Seignieury of Gros Bois, 
or Yamachiehe, was granted in 1672, to the Sieur Boucher; 
and is now the property of Louis Gugy, Esq. the eldest 
brother of my Quebec Friend. The territory belonging to 
this manor is lo:v and flat, near the Lake ; but the neigh- 
bouring Settlements look thrifty and comfortable. 

* No — There's a superb bridge. 



176 

eat the " ragout de Mouton, et de 
*• veau,'' that was already " tout pret,"* 
when it was set before me, so complete- 
ly had the meat been deteriorated 
in the cooking — ,/^Uons ! — Patience. — I 
took up my hat and walked over to the 
Church. It is under the patronage of 
St. Anthony, who stands over the por- 
tal, with the holy Child in his arms. 
Now I can bear to see St. Joseph, with 
his adopted Son, in his hand : but to 
see the Babe of Bethlehem, in the arms 
of St. Anthony, or any other saint in 
the Calendar, is too much for my spirit 
of toleration ; and. I will say, it reminds 
me of nothing better, than, going froin 
Jerusalem to Jericho^ and falling among 
thieves. 

By the way St. Joseph, a saint scarce- 
ly ever heard of, or at least ungracious- 
ly overlooked, among us heretics, in 

• Ragout of Mutton and Veal — all ready. 



177 

the United States, is the patron of Ca- 
nada ; and the Virgin Mary must be 
something more than mortal, at least 
" Sin peccado concebida,"* as the Spa- 
niards say. 

I continued my route, by a strait 
road, over an extensive flat, between 
large fields of wheat and barley; (soil 
a light reddish earth, a little sandy) 
and crossing the Maskinonge, by a 
handsome bridge, truly in the American 
style; which appeared to have been 
just finished, to the admiration of the 
neighbourhood, who were gathered 
about it in crowds, as we passed ; I en- 
tered the town of Berthier, which con- 
sists of one long street, or rather row 
of houses fronting an arm of the river, 
which here flows round an uncultivated 
Island ; upon which Horses are suffered 
to run wild, until they are wanted by 

"Conceived witUoulsin. 



178 

their owners ; a Canadian practice 
which is supposed to have deteriorated 
the breed, at least in point of size. 

A number of these beautitul animals 
were now to be seen, sporting them- 
selves at large, with phantastic gam- 
bols. Now collecting, in droves, as if 
for purposes of sociality, or combina- 
tion — Then coursing each other, over 
the plains, in every variety of pace and 
attitude. Perfectly happy in the ab- 
sence of cruel Man. 

Horses, however, are much better 
treated in Canada, than they are in the 
United States ; where, to our shame, be 
it spoken, these generous Animals, to 
whose labours we are so much indebt- 
ed, and who are as docile to our wills, 
as they are serviceable to our occasions, 
are often hardly used by Carters, and 
Stage Drivers ; and sometimes shame- 
fully abused, in the wantonness of 



179 

power. I have often wished that some 
protection could be extended, by the 
Magistrate, to prevent their unneces- 
sary sufferings. And surely, it must be 
in the power of Stage Owners to pre- 
vent their teams from being injured, as 
they often are, by the dangerous and 
fool-hardy competition of headstrong 
and unfeeling Drivers, 

The soil is here rich, (a fine vegeta- 
ble earth, upon a substratum of strong 
clay.) It is well cultivated, and the 
prospect of an abundant harvest is now 
very promising. 

The road kept its course, along the 
side of the great River, and I lodged 
this night, upon its bank, at a lone 
house, near La Noraye. 

Observing a good many young Peo- 
ple about, I asked my ^Landlord, (who 
took me on next morning himself, and 
was a sedate, substantial Farmer,) How 



180 

many children he had. Nine was the 
answer. Some of them married. " Ah ! 
" Monsieur," said he, " Cost terrible 
" comme les families se grossissent 
u ici/'* I remarked the favourable ap- 
pearance of the grain. It looked well 
this year, he said, but the last season 
the crops had been very scanty, parti- 
cularly' below Three Rivers., where I had 
already observed, that the true climate, 
soil, and manners of Canada Proper, 
or Lower Canada, appear to be mark- 
ed by a definitive line. 

" Avez vous la disette quelque fois, a 
Philadelphie, Monsieur .'^"t 

This simple question, at such a dis- 
tance from that favoured soil and cli- 
mate, where the annual enjoyment of 
plenty is too familiar to be remarked, 
excited in my breast the most lively 



* Ah, Sir, it's terrible to tbiiik how families increase 
here, 
t Have you the scarcity souietinies at Philadelphia, Sir? 



181 

sensations of gratitude to Heaven ; 
bringing to mind the unmerited super- 
abundance, with which we have been 
uninterruptedly favoured, from the first 
settlement of our " happy land." 

Two Caleches now approached us, 
at a rapid rate; the first of them, with 
two horses, which is very uncommon in 
Canada, and between its broad and 
lofty ears sat a well fed Ecclesiastic. It 
>vas the Curate of Maskinonge, return- 
ing from Montreal, where he had been 
with a neighbouring brother of the 
cloth (who was reading as we passed 
him, or appearing to read, without ever 
raising his eyes from his book) to pay 
his devoirs to the Bishop; who was 
about going on a visit to Quebec. 

We now entered a beautiful oak 
wood, extending for half a mile, on 
both sides of the way. Expressing my 



182 

admiration of this grateful shade, (this 
being the only wood through which the 
road passes between Quebec and 
Montreal; though an unbroken forest 
bounds the horizon, at no great dis- 
tance, the whole way ;) I was assured that 
" Tons les Generaux et les Messieurs, 
*' Anglois I'admiroient inliniment."* 

It belongs to a Seigneurie, of which 
we saw the manor house, called La 
Valterie, on quitting the road. We 
stopped hard by, at a decent Inn, about 
which a few isolated silver pines had 
been judiciously preserved; and, in the 
garden, were some of the finest roses I 
have ever seen. On alighting, I ran to 
treat myself, for a moment, with their 
dehghtful smell, and was politely invi- 
ted to help myself to as many of them 
as I chose to take : upon which I stuck 

* All the Generals, and the English Gentlemen, admirer! 
it prodigiously. 



^ 



183 

one of them into my button hole ; and 
rode into Montreal, with this rural de- 
coration, as the Peasants here frequent- 
ly do, with flowers stuck in their hats. 

From this enchanting spot, (for it was 
on a gentle eminence, from whose airy 
brow an open green descended to the 
river ; which was now sparkling at its 
foot, with the cheerful play of morning 
sun beams ;) I was taken forward in a 
style of the same pastoral simplicity, 
by a delicate looking youth, whose 
manners, and appearance, resembled 
nothing more remotely, than the auda- 
city of a European Postillion. 

A stage or two before, I had been 
conducted by a boy of eleven years 
old ; who told me he had already driven 
three, and must therefore have begun 
to hold the reins, at the tender age of 
eight years. I could but congratulate 
myself on the child's having had soi^e 



184 

years oi practice, before lie took charge 
of me. Immediately on our arrival at 
the next stajre, he "vvas saluted by a 
Chum, in the most aiTectionate manner 
imaginable ; and the two Boys ^vent off 
together, arm in arm, like two Students 
at College, instead of Professors of the 
uhip. 

Now, hoMcver, taking boat at St. 
Sulpice, to cross over to the Island of 
Montreal, I fell into the hands of a 
surly Fellow, the only Post Boy on the 
whole route, w ho had ever been out of 
humour with his horse, or show ed the 
least signs of dissatisfaction with hhnsdf^ 
or any ihiuif about Jiim : though both 
liorsc ond chaise, at the Post Houses, 
bcloio Three JRivers, liad often looked as 
if a puft" of Avind might have blown them 
both away : and I often thought what 
a show the antiquated harness, and long 
eared vehicle, would have made for the 
finiifked Coachmakers of Philadelphia. 



185 

On this passage, an elegant Mansion 
House presents iiself at some distance, 
to tlic right ; and a new Tavern, in the 
neat, two story, low roofed, American 
style, is beheld, with pleasing anticipa- 
tions, by the returning Columbian. 

It is, I believe, or rather was, an ap- 
pendage of the new Bridges, which 
were constructed, over the different 
branches of the river, that here sepa- 
rate the adjacent Islands from the main 
land ; and which were intended, even- 
tually, to supersede this tedious ferry, 
by connecting Montreal, on the north 
side, with the adjoining shore. 

But the Projectors of this laudable 
undertaking had forgotten to consult 
their climate ; or to obtain security from 
the Great River, as the Indians expres- 
sively call it. Accordingly, after serv- 
ing the intended purpose, through the 
H 2 



186 

following winter, they were carried of!* 
bodily by the ice, when the roused up 
river* swept away every obstacle to his 
passage, in the spring. 

This idea of bridging the St. Law- 
rence, even where approaching Islands 
invite the attempt, is for the present 
totally abandoned. Yet I have no doubt 
that it will be tried again, and that 
with success; when adventurous New- 
Englanders shall have taken that as- 
cendency at Montreal, which the Scotch 
have hitherto enjoyed. 

The Ferrymen here vented their 
passions, as watermen seem to be 
every where, particularly apt to do, in 
^-currilous provocatives. Every other 
word Avas Foutrc, or Diantre ; and every 
thing that thwarted their humour was 
bete ! and bougre ! and sacre matin ! 

■ Thomsoo. 



187 

We met nothing on the road, after we 
reached the Island, but a solitary ca- 
leche or a market cart, or a foot passen- 
ger, at distant intervals, as ^ve drove 
forward, five or six miles, by a country 
Church, and a Tavern. It was the sign 
of the Three Kings, which is here a 
favourite emblem, as well as in Germa- 
ny ; though the Eastern Sages are here 
ir>o ludicrously transmografied, that I did 
not at first recognise the allusion. 

MONTREAL. 

As we entered the town, it had become 
very hot. I was disappointed in the 
comforts of the French Hotel, to which 
I had been directed — Did not think it 
worth while to change even for the 
Mansion House, late the residence of Sir 
John Johnson — Tired myself almost off 
my legs with perambulating the streets, 
and lanes — Suffered excessively with the 
heat, (to my conviction that it might oc- 



188 

casionally be hot In Canada) kwd would 
have set out, immediately for New-York, 
if I should not have been too early for 
the next steam boat. 

The thermometer was now, on the 
19th day of July, at ninety-six degrees of 
Fahrenheit ; Reaumur was quoted, at an 
ale house, where I stopped for refresh- 
ment, at twenly-eight and three-quarters, 
which answers to ninety-seven of Fahren- 
heit, a degree of heat at which spermaiseti 
melts, and, at the next elevation of the 
scale, ether boils. 

In the evening, however, I cooled my- 
self delightfully in a floating bath, that is 
moored off Windmill Point; and the next 
morning my spirits were restored, by 
writing home, and making the necessary 
preparation for my approaching depar- 
ture, which was to be the next day : the 
weather having in the mean time become 
very cool and pleasant, after refreshing 



189 

showers ; a change which I had predict- 
ed at the table d hote, from the very ex- 
tremity of the heat, agreeable to the well 
known remark with us, that extreme 
weather seldom lasts longfer than three 
days. But I did not find that the opinion 
gained confidence. It appeared to have 
heretofore escaped observation; nor did 
any one notice the fulfilment of the pre- 
diction, but myself, when it took place ; as 

I it usually happens with voluntary prog- 

I nostications. 

I 

I But a French Confectioner, at whose^ 

I house I called, occasionally, had known 
, the thermometer at Pondicherry as high 
as a hundred and two. He was a man 
of observation, and remarking my full 
j habit, he recommended me to drink 
I Lisbon Wine, rather than Madeira, be- 
I cause Lisbon will bear the sea, whereas 
Madeira will not, without a powerful ad- 
mixture of brandy. This it seems is usually 
infused, immediately after the fermenta* 



190 

lion takes place, and before it is refined 
Avith isinglass. But the operation is often 
performed in England. Whence the 
term, London particular Madeira; as it 
will bear the short voyage to that cold 
climate ; but, if sent pure to the neigh- 
bouring hot countries, it would infallibly 
turn sour. It is regularly brandied, it 
seems, more or less, according to the cli- 
mate it is to go to. 

He drank himself nothing but Port, 
Claret, and the Spanish Wines, which 
will all bear the sea, without the perni- 
cious intermixture of Cogniac. It is thus, 
says he, a Frenchman will live in a hot 
climate to a hundred years ; vv^hilst Eng- 
lishmen, who persist in drinking Madeira, 
between the tropics, die accordingly at 
sixty.* 



* This Adventurer bad been in the campaigns of Moreau, 
upon the Rhine. From thence to the East Indies. Thence 
to the United States ; where he had married ;. and was now 
lately transfeiTed to Montreal, for the benefits of Cathglic 



191 



I now gave myself time to visit the 
Religious Institutions of Montreal, which 
are no less numerous and extensive than 
those of Quebec ; though they are far 
less interesting to a Southern Visitor; 
having mostly lost that venerable appear- 
ance of antiquity, which characterizes 
those of the capital. I say mostly, be- 
cause there is one antiquated exception, 
which I shall proceed to designate, while 
its chilling effect is still fresh in my re- 
collection. It is 

THE CHURCH AND :M0NASTERY OF 
THE RECOLLETS 

in the outskirts of Montreal. Nothing 
presents itself to the street but the dingy 
facade of the Chapel, and the outer walls 



communion. His name was Girard, spelt exactly as it is 
by his Countryman, that eminent Merchant, who has rais- 
ed, in Philadelphia, a fortune of I know not how many 
millions ; and is now sole Proprietor of one of our priucipaj 
Banks \ and Owner of half a dozen Indiamen. 



192 

of the Cloisters; which are still overshad- 
owed by coeval elms; though the pre- 
cincts have been given up to the use of the 
Troops in garrison, ever since the decease 
of the last surviving Incumbent. Only 
the Chapel, and the school rooms on one 
side of it, have been reserved for religious 
purposes. The great door is accordingly 
no longer opened ; but I obtained admis- 
sion at the wicket, by the favour of a Lay 
Brother; who had been sent for from the 
country, to retain possession of the premi- 
ses, upon the demise of the last of the 
Friars. Hr, poor soul, is content to 
wear, alone, the cowl of the order, to 
gird liimself with a rope, and walk bare- 
foot, in solitary singularity. The good 
Monk, informed me, with a face of un- 
conscious simplicity, that he was labour- 
ing to restore the Church. (11 travailloit 
a la restaurer.^ He did not, however, ac- 
company me in ; and I found that his resto- 
rations consisted in some tinsel lamps, 
which he had hung up before the altar; 



193 

but — iheir iighis were gone out. I found 
the walls dark with age, and dreary witli 
neo;lect, and desertion. 

This chapel is very lol'ty, in propor- 
tion to its other dimensions, which are 
not great. The windows are at a 
height of twenty feet from the floor; 
and the dingy intervals were hung, 
neither with crucifixes, nor Madonnas, 
but with ecstasies of St. Francis, and 
prostrations of Petrus RecoUectus. 

Pursuing my walk into the country, 
more sensible than ever of the cheer- 
fulness of open air, and day light, 1 
soon came across the General Burying 
Ground, which is by a late law of the 
British Government, without the town; 
none but the Priests being now allowed 
to be buried in the cities of Canada, 
the health of which was supposed to 
have been endangered by the multi- 
tudes of bodies, which were formerly 

R 



194 

crowded together, in confined places, 
insufficiently covered over. 

Here was a Chapel, and a Corpse 
House, the one was recommended to 
the particular care of St. Anthony, by an 
inscription over head, (St. Anthoine priez 
pour nous*) and the other had upon its 
folding doors the memento mori^ which 
makes so little impression upon callous 
Survivors, " Aujourdhui pour moi, demain 
pour vous."t 

A mile further on, I marked the castel- 
lated mansion of the Seigneurie, which be- 
longs to the Seminary of this place. It 
has all the peculiarities of an old French 
Chateau. There arc round towers on 
each side of the gate way ; which are said 
to have been fortified ' in the ancient In- 

* St. Anthony, pray for us. 

t To-day for me, to-morrow for you ; or, in other word*; 
so often repeated upon moralizing tombstones, 
As I am now, so you must be. 
Prepare for death, aud follow me. 



195 

dian wars, and loop holes are still dis- 
eernible in them, at a secure elevation.-*- 
For there was an Indian village at this 
place, when the French arrived, in 1640, 
the displacing of which was an early 
cause of sanguinary conflicts. 

Directly back of this curious specimea 
of the specious inconveniencies of anti- 
quated abodes is the isolated Mountain, 
which rises abrupUy in the plain of Mont- 
real. Its summit is still covered with 
thick woods : but the descent upon the 
other side is highlj? cultivated, and beau- 
tifully picturesque, being thickly strewed 
with villages and spires, interspersed Avith 
wood and water. 

At a considerable height on this moun- 
tain may be seen, from the streets of 
Montreal, a large house, with wings, of 
hewn stone; and a monumental Pillar 
appears, in the woods behind it. The 
House was built, it seems, some years 



196 

ago, by the oldest Partner in the Firm of 
Mc. Tavish k Mc. Gillivrav, (a Scotch 
House,) long the principal Proprietors of 
the North West Trading Company. — 
Mc. Tavish died, whilst the House was 
building, and his Nephews, the Mc Gilli- 
vrays, dechning to finish the House, erect- 
ed this Monument to his memory. There 
is nothing remarkable in the inscription ; 
but the column itself is a striking memento 
of the uncertainties of life. 

The Heirs of the Estate prefer spend- 
ing it in the City, and have built them- 
selves fine houses in the eastern Suburbs ; 
where they are said to keep hospitable 
tables, especially for their Countrymen 
from Scotland, of whom such numbers 
have resorted hither, ever since the Con- 
quest, that Montreal, originally French, 
was in danjjer of becomins: a Scotch Colo- 
ny, before it began to be over-run by the 
still more hardy, and more adventurotis 
Sons of New England. 



/I 




197 



NORTH WESTERN TRADE. 

From the village of La Chine, which 
is situated at the upper end of the Isl- 
and, Merchandise intended for Upper 
Canada, together with military Stores, 
and presents for the Indians, are em- 
barked, in flat-bottomed boats, to pro- 
ceed up the St, Lawrence : but the Fur 
Trade is carried on, by the North West 
Company, through the Ottawa, or 
Grand River, by means of birch ca- 
noes. These are made so light that 
they may be easily carried up the banks 
of rapids, or across necks of land. Of 
these carrying places, there are reckon- 
ed no less than six and thirty, between 
Montreal and the New Settlement on 
Lake Superior, called Kamanastigua. 
Accordingly, the wares to be sent out 
are put up in snug packages; and the 
return of Furs comes back in solid 
R 2 



198 

packs, which the Voyageurs carry on 
their backs at the dilTerent portages.* 

About a thousand persons are sup- 
posed to be employed in this occupa- 
tion, who, spending most of their time 
at a distance from home, contract bar 
bits of idleness in the midst of hard- 
ships; and become so attached to a 
wandering and useless life, that they 
rarely establish themselves in society. 

The fare of these poor fellows is of 
the meanest quality, being mostly no- 

* The canoes employed in this trade, are about thirty 
ieet long, and six wide. They are sharp at each end ; the 
frame is composed of slender ribs, of some light wood, 
which are covered with narrow strips of the bark of the birch 
tree, about half a quarter of an inch in tiiickness. These are 
sewed or stitched together, with tlireads made of the fibres 
flf certain roots, well twisted together. And the joints are 
made water tight by a species of gum, that adheres firmly, 
»nd becomes perfectly hard, when dry. No iron work is 
used in them, of any description, not even nails. When 
complete, these fragile baiks weigh uo mere thau five hun- 
dred pountfe. 



/§' 



199 

filing better than bear's grease and In- 
qian meal, which is made up into a sort 
of broth, requiring httle cookery ; and 
they beguile the tediousness of their 
progress with songs to the Virgin, the 
solemn strains of which, in the dark- 
ness of night, when different parties of 
these poor Pilgrims overhear each other^ 
have a very impressive effect, amid 
Jthese desert wilds. When I have occa- 
rsionally heard them, myself, they re- 
minded me of Christian overhearing 
Faithful, when they were passing, un- 
known to each other, through the valley 
of the shadow of death. 

The distance from Montreal to the 
upper end of Lake Huron, is nine hun- 
dred miles, and the journey usually 
consumes three weeks. 

A number of the Men remain all 
winter in those remote, and comfortless 
regions, employed in hunting, and pack- 



200 

ing up skins. That of the Beaver, is, 
it seems, among Indians, the medium 
of barter. According to usage imme- 
morial, ten Beaver skins are given for 
a gun ; one, for a pound of powder, 
and one, for two pounds of glass beads. 

The River Michipicoton, one of the 
thirty or forty streams, which supply 
Lake Superior with its chrystaline wa- 
ters, interlocks the territories of Hud- 
son's Bay ; and it has been the scene 
of frequent disputes about property, 
and jurisdiction, between the Subjects 
of the same Prince (carrying on the 
same traffick, in that remote corner of 
the Globe) under the authority of dif- 
ferent patents from the Crown. The 
Hudson's Bay Company, it seems, are 
compensated for the hardships of their 
frozen Colony, by its superior readiness 
of access ; which enables them to un- 
dersell the tardy J^oyageurs o{' ihe North 
West Company; who are obliged to 



201 

make their way up the Rivers, antl 
across the Lakes of Canada. 



THE FOREIGN TRADE OF CANADA 

is chiefly confined to the different Ports 
of London and Glasgow, for the various 
Articles of British Manufacture; and 
to the West Indies, for the productions 
of the tropics ; a solitary ship or two 
being now and then dispatched for the 
Brandies, Oils, and Wines of the South 
of Europe ; for which they return Lum- 
ber, Furs, Wheat, and Flour, Beef and 
Pork, Pot and Pearl Ash ; some Horses 
and Cattle, Hemp and- Flaxseed, Gin- 
seng, and Castor Oil, &c. Ship build- 
ing is also carried on at Quebec, to a 
considerable extent ; but the Balance 
of trade would be much against Cana- 
da, if it were not for the sums annually 
expended by Government, upon fortifi- 
cations, and the payment of the Troops. 



202 

In the year 1795, at which time wheat 
and flour comtnaHded unusual prices in 
Europe, no fewer than one hundred and 
twenty-eight vessels arrived in the St. 
Lawrence, from Foreign parts, amount- 
ing to nineteen thousand tons, and na- 
vigated by upwards of a thousand 
men. A still larger exportation of grain 
(much of it, by the way^ received from 
the neighbouring States) took place in 
1799, and the three following years. 
The quantity of flour shipped in 1802, 
was thirty-eight tliousand barrels ; and 
the wheat is said to have exceeded a 
million of bushels. 

EXPENSES OF GOVERNIMENT. 

The Colonial Revenues that year, 
amounted to thirty-one thousand pounds, 
and the expenditures of Government 
exceeded forty-three thousand; so little 
profitable is the Sovereignty of Canada 
to the Kingdom of Great Britain. 



203 

So much for Civil Government. The 
Military Peace Establishment, about 
five thousand men, can hardly be sup- 
ported at a less expense than two or 
three hundred thousands sterling. Ex- 
traordinaries, such as erecting new For- 
tifications, the repair of old ones, al- 
lowances for waste and peculation, with 
other incidental expenses, may be one 
or two more hundreds of thousands.. But, 
in time of war, when the latter items 
are always increased beyond all calcu- 
lation, or credibility, (witness our own 
experience^ during the late war) the sums 
laid out upon Canada must amount to 
.at least as many millions. To say no- 
thing of the naval armaments which 
protect, and the transports which con- 
vey, fresh Troops, across the Atlantic. 

Itis to these circumstances, mainly, that 
Canada owes her apparent prosperity. 
She fattens on the wealth of Britain j 
and the most refined policy would dic- 
tate to the United States to leave the 



204 

unprofitable possession to burn a hole 
in the pockets of its Possessor. 

As for Upper Canada, it is in fact, 
an American Settlement — the surplus 
population of the State of New-York; 
and it will, sooner or later, fall into our 
hands, by the operation of natural 
causes, silent but sure; or if w.e should 
become too wise to extend our unlimited 
territory, a powerful Colony of Ameri- 
can blood, must in time, become an in- 
dependent Nation ; and will naturally 
be to us an amicable Neighbour. 

Hitherto the ships employed in Fo-i 
reign Commerce, have persisted in as- 
cending the great River to Montreal ; 
in spite of the currents, rapids, rocks, 
and shoals, which opposed their course, 
and rendered it as difficult and danger- 
ous as the open sea. In some instances, 
when the winds, likewise, have been 
unfavourable, they are said to have 
been as long getting up this part of the 



205 

river, as they had been in crossing the 
Atlantic ; I have myself seen a fleet of 
sixteen sail, stemming the current, in 
sight of Montreal, for hours together, 
without advancing a furlong. 

But the invention of Steam Boats is 
likely to produce a total change in the 
system of Trade. There are already 
three of these Boats running, whose 
principal object is freight ; and a fourth 
has just been finished, of the burthen 
of seven hundred tons. These Boats 
will, it is supposed, eventually, super- 
sede the necessity of sea vessels as- 
cending higher than Quebec ; where 
they will probably, in future, unload 
their cargoes, and take in the returns. 
One vessel, however, may perhaps be 
allowed to keep the run, as long as she 
lasts. She was built on purpose, for 
this difficult navigation, and draws but 
twelve feet water, though of five hun- 
dred tons burthen, having made the 



206 

tedious voyage, successively, for one 
and twenty years. 

Sabbath day now occurring, for the 
third time since I entered Canada, and 
probably the last, I took the opportu- 
nity which I had before sought, without 
success, to attend morning prayers at 

THE CHAPEL OF THE DAMES NOIRS 

a charitable Institution, which was 
founded by the piety of a Duchess of 
Bouillon,, in 1644. I now found the 
Sisterhood sitting, or rather kneeling, 
in a long oratory, ranging on the left, 
with the Church of the Hospital ; and, 
through an open window, they could be 
seen as I approached it, in long pros- 
tration, before the altar. 

The Church was crowded with a 
motley Congregation of the meanest 
looking people that can well be imagin- 



20t 

ed, (I speak not of dress, for they were 
decently clad, but of person, and 
countenance.) Being naturally a phy- 
siognomist, I could not help remark- 
ing the various kinds and degrees of 
weakness and simplicity, which were 
strongly marked upon their features. 
There was not one face among the 
hundred, that w^as lighted up with any 
indications of refinement, sensibility, or 
reflection. The Priest himself was little 
better than his flock; and I could not 
forbear the ready comparison of the 
Blind leading the Blind ; though, I dare to 
say, they were, every one of them, 

Much too wise to walk into a well* 

I looked over one of their books, 
and found that they were reciting what 
is called the office of the Virgin; among 
the innumerable clauses of which, I was 

^ Pope.' 



208 

soon disgusted with that sacrilegious 
one of 

Dei genitrlx intercede pro Nobis :* 

as if we were not expressly told, in the 
Scriptures of Truth — the written word, 
that Christ himself stands at the right 
hand of the Father^ making intercession for 
the sins of the world ; and that there is no 
other name given under heaven^ by which 
ive can be saved,, but the name of Jesus 
Christ of JVazareth, 

The changes were rung, however, 
at the same time, upon 

Dominus— Domine — Domino ;t 

and before the audience were dismiss- 
ed, we had the Dominus Vobiscum from 
the Priest; with the response from the 

* Mother of God ! Pray for us ! 
t The name of the Lord 



209 

People, (whether they understood it 
or not) 

Et cum spirito tuo* 

which was followed by 

Oremus. 

In Scecula Soeculorum — • 

Anien.t 

The perpetual repetitions of the 
Catholic ritual, have certainly a stupi- 
fying influence upon the human mind ; 
inasmuch as they occupy the place of 
reflection, if they do not even exclude 
it: yet I have no doubt but that many 
good People have found their way to 
Heaven through this By-path, in the 
long course of seventeen hundred 
years, from the early corruption of 
Christianity; and I copied with plea- 
sure, from the walls of this benighted 

" And with thy Spirit. 

t Let us pray — for ever and ever. Amen. 

s 2 



210 

cell, the following modest and edifying 
inscription : 

venerable Demoiselle, 

Jeanne Lebel, 

bienfaitrice de cette Maison; 

qui, ayant ete Recluse 

quinze ans, 

dans la maison de ses pieux Parens. 

en a passe vingt, 

dans la retraite qu' elle a faite ici 

Elle est decedee 

le 3 d 'octobre 

1714 

agee de cinquante deux ans.* 



* Here lies 

that venerable Lady, 

Jeanne Lebel, 

a })enefac(ress of this House ; 

who having been a Recluse, 

fifteen years. 

in the House of her pious Parents, 

passed twenty, 

in the retirement of this place 

She deceased 

the 3d of October, 

1714, 
aged fifty-two year.?. 



211 

I remember nothing else particularly 
in this Chapel ; but that the great win- 
dow, opening into the Nuns' oratory, was 
glazed, instead of being grated, and 
no curtain drawn; so that the Sisters 
could be seen, by the Audience, at their 
own altar. There was a picture of some 
Catholic Missionary among the Heathen, 
St. Francis Xavier, or some other legen- 
dary pretender to apostolic zeal, holding 
up a crucifix, by way of preaching the 
CROSS — not surely that which was to 
the Jews a stunihling block, and to the wise 
Greeks foolishness : for that was declared 
to be nothing less than the povjer of God, 
and the wisdom of God, in all them that 
believCi and obey, the Gospel. 

THE GREY NUNS. 

From this place I went to the Grey 
Sisters, or General Hospital, which is a 
little way out of the town. This Chapel 



212 

is richly ornamented by the piety of the 
fair Devotees ; and it has this interesting 
peculiarity, that the arched entrances of 
the cross aisles are unincumbered, either by 
grates, or doors ; and the corresponding 
windows, run down to the floor; so that 
you see, through them, the burying 
ground, on one side ; and a flower garden 
on the other, in which pinks and poppies, 
with yellow lilies, and other showy flow- 
ers, unite, very happily, with the golden 
hues of the altar, the crucifix of which is 
of ivory, in producing a rich glow of 
solemn colouring ; reminding the Travel- 
ler of the vivid reflection, from painted 
windows, in the Gothic edifices of the 
north of Europe. 

These Sisters have the care of the Lu- 
natic, as well as the Maimed, and the 
Infirm. A heavy task it seemed to me : 
but they appeared to show me every thing 
with pleasure; partly at least, we may 



213 

suppose, (without discrediting any senti- 
ment that excites to love and good works) 
arising from self-approbation. I dechned 
entering the Lunatic ward, the sad ob- 
jects of wliich are, I think, every where^ 
too freely exposed to Public view ; and 
would gladly have omitted that of the 
I aged and infirm ; but I could not so readi- 
; ly get clear of my Conductress, to whom 
j I had given something for the Orphan 
! Children (Enfants trouves) who are le- 
I ceived here, without inquiry, or objection. 

\ I asked the Sister who had the super- 
I intendence of this department, (a chatty 
old woman, who seemed determined to 
' hold me a while in conversation,) whether 
j her Patients ever lived to a great age. — 
\ She said, not often; but that one had 
died, lately, aged ninety-eight, and anoth- 
er, some years ago, at a hundred and 
ten. I asked if they were natives of 
Canada. " Non Monsieur c'etoient des 



214 

" Francois. Les vieux Francois ont de 
•' bons estomacs."* 

Thus I found the ancient prejudice that 
old countrymen bom, live longer than 
the native Americans, prevails here, as 
well as with us. Because for many years 
it was observed that there were more 
instances of old people who were born 
elsewhere, than of such as were born in 
America. Althouo^h it is obvious, that as 
the first-Comers were not bom here; but 
came over from the European Continent, 
most of them at mature age, there could 
not at firsts in the nature of things, be so 
many natives, dying of old age, as there 
would be of old country born: 

Yet with us, in Pennsylvania, be it re- 
membered, that the first child born of 
English Parents lived to be eiglity-five. 
Several of our natives' born, have since 

* No sir, they were Frencbruen. The old French have 
excellent coastitutions. 



215 

turned a hundred. These, it has been 
observed, have been chieflj women. — 
But one is now Hving, at the town of 
Beaver, on the Ohio, who was born in 
New Jersey in 1686, within a very few 
years of the first settlement of the Pro- 
vince. Well, therefore, might our Pa- 
triarch Franklin say, when, during his 
long Agency at London, he was pressed 
to tell w^hether People lived as long ip 
America as they do in England, " I do not 
** know — for the first Settlers are not all 
-*' dead yet." 

The most frequent instances of longevi- 
ty may now be observed to occur in the 
most old settled parts, such as Virginia, 
and the New England States; and for 
this plain reason, that it is there that there 
were most children, to take a chance for 
it, a century ago. The comparative 
numbers of old people, in any country, 
is not to be made upon the population of 



21G 

those countries, when they died; but 
when they were born. It is well known 
that whilst most of the towns in the Old 
World have increased but little, within 
the period of a long life, the oldest towns 
in America have doubled, and quadrupled 
some of them ten or twenty fold. 

It appears by the London Bills of mor- 
tality for thirty years^ viz. from 1728 to 
1758, that out of seven hundred and fifty 
thousand deaths, which took place in that 
city, there were two hundred and forty- 
two persons who had survived their hun- 
dredth year. This is something over one 
for every three thousand, which was more 
than half of the whole number of Inhabi- 
tants in Philadelphia, a hundred years 
ago. If therefore, the Philadelphia Bills 
now show two centenarians in a year, 
(which they invariably do) it is sufficient 
to place us on a similar scale with the 
City of London. And if that proportion 



217 

is greatly exceeded in Russia according* to 
the annual Bills for that extensive Em- 
pire. Let it be remembered that large 
deductions may be safely made from the 
accounts furnished by the illiterate popes 
and papas of a Nation, the interior of 
which is yet but half civilized ; and which, 
a hundred and fifty years ago, was little 
likely to be very correct about births, 
and dates. 

Let us hear no more, therefore, of the 
groundless presumption, that people 
live longer in Europe than they do in 
America. — It is not the fault of our 
climate, nor our soil, if we do not live 
as long here as in any part of the 
world ; though the general participation 
of the luxuries^ as well as of the necessa- 
ries of life, may oftener prevent, with 
us, the natural termof existence, among 
j that class of people — the hard working 
Poor, which most frequently, in all 
countries, arrives at the utmost period 
•of human life. 



218 



THE CATHEDRAL OF MONTREAL. 

I NOW went to the Cathedral, which 
has been lately new fitted up, gilded 
and painted, in the most glittering style 
imaginable. 

This building is neither so long, nor so 
high, as the Cathedral of Quebec, and 
it makes a very plain appearance, out- 
side, standing as it does, in the middle 
of the principal avenue, which leads 
round it, on the north side, across a 
Public square. But no expense has 
been spared, upon the interior, nor has 
any idea of Christian simplicity been 
suffered to check the exuberance of 
fancy, in the decorations of the choir. 

I found the tribune of this Church 
particularly offensive to my orthodoxy, 
as the great Crucifix does not occupy 
its proper station (Can it be possible 
it should have been removed to a 






219 

side aisle, where it now stands ?) in the 
centre of the Tribune, the appropriate 
situation, which it invariably retains, in 
our Philadelphia Chapels (which, by 
the way, are a good deal new-modelled 
by the benefit of surrounding observa- 
tion and example) to make room for a 
Statue of the Virgin — not as usual, with 
the Child in her arms, which could 
alone countenance the impropriety : but 
in the elegant contours of a Grecian 
female (It might pass as well for a Juno 
or a Ceres) standing in a niche above 
the altar; whilst Corinthian columns, 
fluted in green and gold, and surmounted 
with curved scrolls of the same glitter- 
ing materials, support over her head a 
crown, richly gilt. 

Is not this worshipping the creature^ 
more than the Creator ? — Yet, we are 
told, that the Lord, our God, is a jealous 
God; who will not give his glory to 
another, nor his praise to graven, images. 



220 

Alas! that the Professors of the first 
Christian Church — instead of, leaving 
those things that were behind, and, going 
on unto perfection, should fall short of the 
ancient Jews, under the shadowy Dis- 
pensation of the Law. They were for- 
bidden to make unto themselves the likeness 
of any thing in heaven, or upon earth — to 
worship it. There was accordingly (we 
are told by St. Paul — a Hebrew pro- 
selyte, of the tribe of Benjamin) nothing 
contained in the Ark of the Covenant 
(beside the Tables of the Law) — save a 
pot of manna, and Aaron^s rod, that budded, 
in the presence of Pharaoh; which 
things were preserved for a memorial, 
to succeeding Generations, of the won- 
ders which the Lord had wrought, in 
Egypt, for the deliverance of his chosen 
People. And, to this day, the Jews 
have nothing in their tabernacles, but a 
Copy of the Law; which is produced, 
before the People, every Sabbath-Day j 
not to be worshipped ; but merely to be 
commemorated, and obeyed- 



221 

This Cathedral is dedicated to JS'otrc 
Dame, rather than to God Almighty, 
and the perpetual recurrence of jivc 
Marias all over the building, shows in- 
deed too plainly that this is a Temple 
dedicated, in the first place to the Virgin 
Mary — in the second to Jesus Christ.* 

* It is truly and excellently spoken of Seneca, says 
Lactantius : " Consider the majesty, the goodness, and 
« the adorable mercies of the Almighty : His pleasure 
" lies not in the magnificence of temples made with 
" stone ; but in the piety and devotion of consecrated 
•' hearts." 

And in the book that this same Heathen Philosopher 
wrote against superstitions ; treating of those who worship- 
ped images, St. Austin obsei*ves, he writes thus : <' They 
" represent the holy, the immortal, and the invisible Gods, 
'• with the basest materials, and without life or motion, in 

" the forms of Men." " AH these things," continues the 

ancient Sage, "a wise man will observe, for the law's 
*' sake, more than for that of the gods ; and all this rabble 
" of Deities, which the superstition of many ages has 
" gathered together, we are in such manner to adore," says 
Seneca, (darkly, as one who could yet only see men as 
trees) " as to consider their worship to be rather matter o£ 
" custom, than of conscience. ' — How much farther did 
this enlightened Heathen penetrate into the nature of spi- 
ritual worship than those who venerate images .' or at least 
T 2 



222 

Even St. Peter, with his keys, has 
been here obliged to give way to the 
exclusive pretensions of the Virgin — None 
but Saints of their own making have 
been able to stand the too powerful 
competition here. (They worship the 
work of their own hands — that which 
their own fingers have made.) In the 
side chapels, opposite to the altars of 
the favourite Divinity, the curious Stran- 
ger may find a St. Francis, or sl St. Jn- 
Ihony, in garments of sack-cloth — gaunt 

make use of such representations, in Christian Churches, «i5 
the means of heightening religious fervour ! 

But Christians have no occasion for Heathen authorities 
against outicard Temples, and symbolic worship. " For the 
•' Lord God," said David, " dvvelleth not in Temples, made 
•' with hands" — Not surely then in a consecrated Host, at the 
command of a siJiful Priest — (o bring forth, as a God ; or to 
put away, as a thing of nought. *' What hoase will ye build 
•' me, saith the Lord ? or, where is the place of my rest?'* 

Yet this was the same munificent Potentate, that prepared, 
before his death, for tlie House, that was to be built in 
Jerusalem, for the God of Heaven, a hu7ulred thousand talents 
of gold; and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and t^ 
brass and iron, xcithoxd weight; or nv.w.ber^ 



223 

and ghastly; who have been permitted 
to pay their obeisance to the incarna- 
tion ; but every close, and every open 
compartment, throughout the aisles and 
galleries, of this — I will not call it, 
Christian^ Temple, exhibits the name 
(must I say, of the idol of its adora- 
tion ?) in the following device of devout 
ingenuity ; in which, in a single cipher, 
are interwoven the letters M, A, for the 
name oi Maria, and V, for the attribute 
of Virginity. 



m 



Apropo of KEYS — I do not myself 

regret the absence of the Prince of the 
Apostles, as they call him at Rome. — I 
think St. Peter has kept the keys of 
Heavens Wicket* lon^ enough, since 



\J 'V 



Milion. 



±24 

they were first given, not to him, as a 
Man — subject, as the history abundant- 
ly testifies, to like pamons Avith his 
Fellow Creatures : but to the Revelation 
which he had received, in common with 
other Believers. And his Successor, 
like the dog in the manger, will neither 
enter in himself, nor suffer them that 
would. 

But Pius VII with all his briefs, and 
his bulls, (even if they should again be 
seconded by the thunder of the Vatican) 
cannot prevent the candle, which has been 
lighted by the Bible Societies, from 
being put upon the candlestick — no more 
to be hid, under a bed, or under a bushel. 
— The Scriptures of Truth, will at 
length, be circulated, throughout the 
habitable globe ; and there will be, if I 
may be allowed the comparison, a se- 
cond preaching of the Gospel — among 
all JVations. 



223 

£n this dark Cathedral (\ speak of 
spiritual darkness, for this Church is as 
brilliant as a ball-room) the trade of auri- 
cular confession is more extensively car- 
ried on, than in any Gothic edifice . I ever 
was in ; and I have been in many of them, 
in my time, in the most bigoted countries 
in Europe. I suppose there are not less 
than twenty Confessionals around the 
walls, at which Penitents are occasionally 
seen ringing the bells, to call their favourite 
Confessors to the seat of judgment ; and 
Priests, in their white vestments, are to 
be seen pacing the aisles, to answer these 
incessant requisitions, every hour in the 
day. 

This magnificent Edifice was now 
crowded to overflowing — not with the 
Populace merely, many of whom, hav- 
ing no seats in the Church, stood bare 
headed about the door, or kneeled upon 
the steps, it being impossible for them 
all to get in. But the Choir was lined 






22 B 

with Priests and Chanters, in white — 
the Black Nuns were there — and the 
Grey Nuns were there, (though they 
have all Churches of their own to go 
to)-;— N^y, I found iny old Monk assist- 
ed nere, instead of attending to his re- 
storations at the Recollets, making a gro- 
tesque appearance; amidst glittering 
gew gaws, in his coarse gown and hood 
— which was thrown back, to discover 
his shaven crown. — In short, it seemed 
as if the Hierarchy had mustered all its 
forces. 



Black, ivhite, and grey, with all their trumpery ; 
Cowls, hoods, and habits. 

There was, however, a Sermon, to coun- 
tenance this universal assemblage, which 
was declared by an old Woman, that 
sat next me, (between one pinch of snuff' 
and another) to be ^ tin beau Sermon .' But 
I shall not give myself the trouble to re- 
port any part of it ; for next morning, 



227 

seeing a Catholic Catechism, in a Book- 
seller's window, I asked to look at it ; 
and returned it, with evident indigna- 
tion, as soon as I came to the following 
passage, which is w orthy of the intole- 
rant spirit of the darkest ages : 

Demande. Ya t'-il plusieurs Eg- 
lises Catholiques ? 

Reponse. Non. II n'y a de catho- 
liques que la seule Eglise Romaine. 
Hors de laquelle il n y a point de sa- 
lut.* 

Demande. Que faut il done 'penser 
de ces autres Societts qui se nomment 
Eglises, et ne professent pas la meme fo 
que nous ? ou ne sont pas soumises aux 
mcmes pasteurs?t 

* Question. Are there several Catholic Churches ? 

Answer. No. There is no Catholic Church, but that of 
Rome — Out of which there is no salvation. 

t Question. What must we then believe of those other 
Societies which call themselves Churches, and do not pro- 
fess the same faith with us .' or are not subjected to the 
• am e Pastors.' 



228 

Reponse. Elles sont des institutions 
buraaines, qui ne servent qu' a egarer 
les hommes, et ne sauroient les con- 
duire a Dieu.* 

But let me not involve myself in dark- 
ness till I become myself uncbaritably 
blind. — Adjoining to this Cathedral is 
the extensive Edifice called the Semi- 
nary, which Avas here instituted in the 
year 1657, by the Abbe Quetus, and a 
deputation of Teachers from the cele- 
brated Brotherhood of St. Sulpice, at 
Paris. 

The present Superiors of this noble 
Institution, with other Clergymen, par- 
ticularly of the dignified class, are said 
to be men of great learning, and exem- 
plary piety ; who confine themselves, 
with the most self-denying strictness, to 



* Answer. They are human Institutions, which sen-e to 
lead Men astray, and can in no wise direct them to 
God. 



229 

the exercise of their religious duties ; 
and lead irreproachable lives : depriv- 
ed as they are by their stations, of the 
inestimable comforts of female society. 

This Seminary of learning is chiefly 
designed for the education of the Priest- 
hood : but others are admitted into this 
truly Catholic college ; even Protestant 
Children, from whom conformity is not 
exacted. To this excellent Institution 
is attached an extensive garden, with 
shady avenues for air and exercise ; 
which I regret not having seen, as I 
have since understood that the Teach- 
ers are not merely accessible, but po- 
litely attentive to Strangers, who wish 
to survey the Establishment, or to pro- 
secute, in its academical groves, bota- 
nical researches. 

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 

The City of Montreal has thriven 
surprisingly, within a few years, and 

V 



230 

now contains as many Inhabitants as 
Quebec, say twelve or fifteen thousand. 

There has been, and in time of peace, 
will continue to be, a great influx of 
Americans, chiefly from the New-Eng- 
land States, who are winding themselves 
into all the most active and ingenious 
employments. Episcopal and Presby- 
terian Chapels, or Meeting Houses, have 
long been established here ; and of late 
the Methodists — those pioneers of re/or- 
viation, have broke ground, within the 
precincts of the Catholic Church — one 
and indivisible, as it is ! 

The relations of Trade increase 
daily, between this place and the Uni- 
ted States ; and such is the course of 
exchange, that the notes of our princi- 
pal Banks circulate freely in all the 
towns of Canada. The Merchants of 
Montreal are now, however, about es- 
tablishing a Bank of their own, with a 



231 

capital of two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand pounds sterling, something more 
than a million of dollars. This will 
have a tendency to limit the circulation 
of Foreign paper, and promote domes- 
tic improvement, as well as facilitate 
the operations of Trade : though the 
exports from hence are chiefly confined 
to Wheat and Flour, Peltry, Lumber, 
&c. received from Upper Canada, or the 
United States. 

If the vicinity of Montreal is less 
wildly magnificent, than that of Que- 
bec, it is far more luxuriant and smi- 
ling. Here wheat and rye seldom fail 
to reward the labours of the Husband- 
man, (however ill directed they may 
be) though the summers, even here, are 
found too short to encourage the culti- 
vation of Indian corn ; and Peaches 
will scarcely ripen, without sheltering 
walls. Plums, Apples, Pears, are like-r 
wise much better here than at Quebec 5 



232 

and the berry fruits, particularly Cur- 
rants, Raspberries, and Strawberries 
from foreign stocks, are produced as 
large, and some of them as fine, as they 
are with us. — The cultivated Goose- 
berry is much larger, the general cool- 
ness of the summer favouring its 
growth, by retarding its maturity. 

There is here a Society of Florists, 
who gave premiums, whilst I was at 
Montreal, for the finest specimens of 
Ranunculuses, and Carnations, 

As many (weekly) papers are alrea- 
dy published, both in Montreal, and also 
at Quebec, in the English language, as 
in the French j and it is evident that the 
former, will gain the ascendency here— 
perhaps at no distant day. 

The streets of business, and especial- 
ly the shops, have the snug look of an 
English town; and it was amusing to 



233 

see how exactly the Young Men, of any 
figure, were in the London cut. 

The British Officers, I am told, do 
not mix much in society, with the Na- 
tives of Canada ; yet Military manners 
prevail here, as well as at Quebec : 
The Rabble flock, in crowds, to Regi- 
mental parades ; and even Women, of 
any appearance, make a point of step- 
ping to a march. 

Before I quit Montreal, I shall not do 
justice to its Public Edifices, without 
mentioning, as a handsome Structure, 
the Government House, for 4he admi- 
nistration of Justice, &c. with the King's 
Arms, in the pediment, elaborately 
executed in Coades artificial stone. A 
new Jail of appropriate construction — 
accompanied by that eye-sore to Ame- 
rican feelings, the Whipping Post ; and 
a Naval Pillar (which has been unfa- 
u 2 



234 

vourably placed, in front of the latter) 
intended in honour of Lord Nelson. 

NELSON'S PILLAR. 

This beautiful Memento (I recollect 
nothing superior to it in England, where, 
to be sure, they are not remarkable for 
Public Monuments any more than our- 
selves) stands upon an elevated Pedes- 
tal, upon the front of which is a suit- 
able inscription, in which is not for- 
gotten the Hero's last 'order, " Eng- 
•• land expects every Man will do his 
''' duty." On the two sides, in circular 
compartg^ents, are represented, in the 
boldest bas reliefs (of the composition 
before mentioned) the horrid scenes of 
Ships sinking to the bottom of the deep, 
or blowing up into the air, as they oc- 
curred at the Nile, and off Trafalgar. 
In that of the fourth side is represented 
the Crown Prince of Denmark, who is 
seen submitting to Nelson's lawless re- 



235 

quisltion, at the moment when, it is 
said, that Victory was turning against 
the Conqueror. 

The shaft of this Pillar is fifty (eei 
high. Upon its capital stands the Ad- 
miral, who makes, it must be allowed, 
but a very sorry figure in Statuary, with 
his arm in a sling ; but his Lordship 
leans, with peculiar propriety, upon 
the remains of a broken mast ; and the 
bare of the Column is a well wrought 
cable. 

This Monument is injudiciously 
placed, in the common Market place, 
instead of the Place d'Armes, or the 
Parade upon the^boulevards ; at one 
end of which are two very fine new 
Houses of hewn stone, and in the neigh- 
bourhood new streets are laying out, 
which will greatly modernise the town, 
and connect it with the adjacent Sub- 
urbs ; from which it was formerly very 



236 

inconveniently disjoined by the ram- 
parts, which are now dismantled. 

THE PEASANTRY OF CANADA. 

The Peasantry in Canada, (by which 
term I hope Lower Canada will be al- 
ways understood in these sketches) 
that is to say, the great body of the 
People, is in a state of ignorance, but 
little exceeding the simplicity of the 
Indian tribes, in their neighbourhood, 
and of poverty almost as little removed 
from a state of absolute want : yet 

Patient of labour, with a little pleased, 

they are perhaps as happy, as their 
more polished Neighbours ; and cer- 
tainly they are more harmless, and less 
discontented : 



No fancied ills, nc pride created wants, 
Disturb the peaceful current of (heir days 



237 

Relieved from the horrors of Military 
conscription, and feudal tyranny ; pin- 
ning their faith upon the Priest's sleeve; 
these simple People are literally satis- 
fied with their daily bread ; and leave the 
morrow to provide for itself 

No more — Where ignorance ia blisS) 

p (says the Poet) and I shall not now stop 
to controvert the position, 

, 'Tis folly to be wise. 

( 

I In point of morality and devotion, 

I the French in Canada may be compar- 

1 ed to the Swiss and the Scotch in Eu- 

I rope ; though far behind the former, in 

industry, and the latter, in ingenuity, 

and enterprise. Infidelity is unknown 

I among them ; and the passion for Mili- 

I l^ary glory almost extinct, as well as that 

thoughtless gaiety, which distinguishes 

the French in Europe, no longer enli- 



238 

vened by the exhilarating wines of the 
Mother Country ; 

Those healthful cups which cheer but not intbriate, 

as Cowper elegantly said of the English 
beverage — tea. 

So great is the change of manners 
and principles, which has followed, in 
two centuries, an alteration in the over- 
ruling circumstances of climate, and 
government. 

National pride, in its proper sense, 
as confined to the Country which gave 
us birth, is scarcely felt in Canada ; 
where every sensation of National glory 
reverts to the forgotten History of a 
distant land ; and the Government that 
is obeyed, per force, is foreign to the 
People; and they can have no senti- 
ments in unison with the objects of its 
ambition. 



239 

A Canadian is ready to admit the su- 
periority of the American character; 
and shows nothing of French partiali- 
ties, save in the display of the Gallic 
Cock, which is perched upon the spire 
of every steeple, and upon the top of 
every cross ; together with the sun, the 
flower de luce, and other (degraded) 
emblems of the French Monarchy; 
which British policy has wisely permit- 
ted these harmless People to retain, as 
long as they were content to let go tfw 
substance of National Independence ; and 
grasp — a shadow. 

Even in person and countenance they 
are perceptibly altered from their Eu- 
ropean Ancestors : The Canadian Pea- 
sant is not so tall as the native French- 
man ; neither is he so well shaped, or 
so comely in feature, as his Progenitors. 
He is also browner by many degrees 
than the Natives of France. 



240 

From this marked example, it would 
appear, that National peculiarities may 
be formed, by the operation of imperi-li 
ous circumstances, in far less time than 
is required to change the colour of the 
skin, by the influence of climate ; and 
we need be at no difficulty to admit the 
gradual origin of the variety of com- 
plexions, in the Human race : Since a 
change of feature and person can be so 
soon brought about, in a Colony of Eu- 
ropeans, thus completely separated from 
the Parent Stock. 

The French tongue, however, has 
been very little deteriorated in Canada. 
The Peasantry coming from different 
Provinces, left their respective allot- 
ments of the " Patois de chez nous" 
behind them, in the land of their An- 
cestors ; and their Posterity now speak 
but one language, which is very tolera- 
ble French: though not to be sure, 
like the English of America, as pure 



2241 

ami perfect as the chastest dialect of 
the Mother Country j although spread 
over an inhabited surface of ten times 
its extent. 

And here let me warn the British 
Reader, that whenever an English Tra- 
veller, in America, undertakes to amuse 
his Countrymen, as Weld has some- 
times done, with pretended conversa- 
tions of American Peasants, delivered 
in bad language, it is of his own manu- 
facture — bad English is not coined in the 
American Mint. 

There appears to have been but very 
little emigration from France since the 
year 1660, when the Province was al- 
ready comparatively well peopled ; and 
it was about the same time, in the fol- 
lowing century, that the Canadians 
yielded their independence to the as- 
cendency of the British arms; since 

V 



242 

which there has been far more connex- 
ion and intercourse between France and 
the American Provinces of British ori- 
gin, than between that powerful nation 
and her own descendants. 

Thus the deterioration of pristine 
vigour, that it was possible for a few 
centuries to produce, in National cha- 
racter, has been in this instance com- 
pletely exemplified. 

In North America a colonization ori- 
ginally gradual, and progressive, toge- 
ther with the incessant intercourse of 
Commerce and curiosity, has admitted 
of so little variation of National cha- 
racter and appearance, that the Eng- 
lishman of the United States is not 
now to be distinguished in form or 
feature — in temper or intellect, (ex- 
cepting certain shades of difference 
which I shall not now undertake to de- 



243 

fine) from the Englishman of Europe : 
And the two branches from the Parent 
stem may now be considered, with infi- 
nitely more propriety in the light of 
elder and younger Brothers, established 
in different countries, than in the fan- 
cied relationship of parent and child; 
which, if it was true of our Ancestors a 
Imndred years ago, is no longer so, of 
the two separate Races which have 
since sprung from the same Parent 
Stock, 

A hundred years hence j when obsolete 
pretensions have been forgotten ; and 
jealousies, and prepossessions, shall be no 
longer remembered ; it will be the proud- 
est boast of Britain, that she planted the Co- 
lonies of North America : and the dearest 
title of the United States, that their Pro- 
genitors came from Old England. 

To an American from the United 
States, the smallness of towns so noted. 



244 

and so long established as Quebec, and 
Montreal, is inconceivable, and scarce- 
ly credible to the observer. I could 
mjself with difficulty believe, that the 
population of the latter is now estimated 
at but fifteen thousand, of the former, at 
no more than twelve ; numbers, which 
might have been roughly computed by 
the English, at the time of the Conquest. 
Still less can we imagine how the po- 
pulation of the Country, which at that 
period, was estimated at seventy or 
eighty thousand, should have little more 
than doubled itself since, although sixty 
years have nearly elapsed ; a period 
in which the standing population of the 
United States has more than trebled it- 
self. I speak not of the rapid reduplica- 
tion of the J^ew States, which arises 
from emigration, and takes place at the 
expense of the Old. 

In the year 1706, the people of New 
France were estimated at thirty thou- 



245 

sand. At the Conquest, fifty-five years 
afterward, they were variously computed 
at seventy, and at ninety, thousand Souls. 
If the latter was the true number (which 
I very much doubt) they can have little 
more than doubled since : for on the 
peace of 1783 an account of them was 
taken, by order of the Government; and 
the whole amount, including the English, 
with the French, was only one hundred 
and thirteen thousand. There were at 
the same time ten thousand Loyalists es- 
tabhshed in Upper Canada. 

If therefore the French Stock has 
doubled itself, since the year 1760, it is 
as much as can be inferred, from the data 
given above. Taking the mean number 
(80) for a basis, it's double will be a hun- 
dred and sixty thousand, which is proba- 
bly not far from the truth : for I cannot 
adopt the flattering estimate of common 
computation, by which the present Inhabi- 
tants of Lower Canada are raised to the 
v 2 



246 

suppositious amount of two hundred and 
fiftj thousand. [See the Appendix No. 

II.] 

There are manj circumstances, in 
Canada, which control the energies of 
life; beside occasional scarcity, and the 
long absence of the Voyage urs ; prevent- 
ing the natural tendency of new Colonies 
to increase and multiply. 

The extreme heats of the climate, 
though not lasting, enenate the body ; and 
its extreme cold chilis the blood, and has a 
benumbing effect upon the powers of the 
mind. Frequent Festivals, or Holidays, 
introduce habits of idleness, and relaxa- 
tion. The lands are held by Military 
tenure. The Occupants are liable to the 
teazing claim of quitrents, and the un- 
seasonable exaction of Military service. 
At every transfer of property the new 
Purchaser is bound to pay one-fifth to the 
Seigneur, and in case of war the land 



24T 

holder is liable to serve without pay. In 
short, under the Ancien Regime^ every 
Peasant was a Soldier, and every Seigneur 
an Officer; and although the Natives are 
now excluded from the King's Troops, 
the Creoles are enrolled in the Militia, 
and are still called out, occasionally, 
without fee or reward. Accordingly the 
frequent may-poles, to be observed on 
the road sides, do not mark, as at first sight 
I fondly imagined they might have done, 
the circle of a village dance, where the 
Sons and Daughters of Poverty might 
forget their wants, in their enjoyments ; 
but the superintendence of a Serjeant, or 
a Captain of Militia, as the rallying point 
of duty, in cases of alarm.* 



' By the ancient custom of Canada, Lands en fief, or 
tn roture, were held immediately from the king, on condi- 
tion of rendering fealty and homage, upon every accessioa 
to the Seignorial property, and in the event of a transfer, 
by sale, or otherwise, except in the line of hereditary suc- 
cession, they were subject to the payment of a quint (one- 
fifth) of the purchase money. 

The Tenanciers, or holders of lands, en ro/t<re, were sub- 



248 

Most of those who cuHlvatc the soil 
can neither read nor write, of course they 
know nothino; of the advantajjes of com- 
posts, or the rotation of crops ; by which 
the means of Hfe are so cheaply multipli- 
ed by intelligent Agriculturists. And 
before Quebec was taken by the English, 
all the manure produced in its stables was 
regularly thrown into the river. 

ject to the payment of a quitrent, which was generally ac- 
companied with some trifling gratuity, such as, a pair of 
fowls, or a bushel of wheat. They were also bound to 
grind their corn at the Moulin banal, or the Lord's mill, 
where one-fourteenth part is taken by way of mouture, or 
toll, for grinding ; likewise to repair highways, and to 
open new roads, when directed so to do, by the Grand 
Voyeur, or Supervisor of the District. 

The Lords were also entitled to a tithe of the Fish 
eauglit within their domains, and might fell timber where- 
ver they chose, for necessary purposes. 

Lands held by Roman Catholics, are farther subject to 
the payment, to the Curates, of the twenty-sixth part of all 
grain produced upon them ; also to occasional assessments 
for building and repairing Churches, parsonage houses, and 
other church occasions. 

The remainder of the located lands are held in free and 
common soccage, from which is made a reservation of two- 
sevenths, one of which is appropriated to the Crown, and 
the other to the maintenance of the Protestant Clergy. 



249 

Another check to population remains to 
be mentioned {though last, not least.) It is 
the law of celibacy to which the Priests 
and Nuns are prescriptively subjected; 
and to whose mortifying restrictions, how- 
ever unnatural, there is no reason to 
doubt their scrupulous conformity. 

HISTORY OF CANADA. 

If I hg^-e said little of the early history 
of Canada, it is because little is to be said ; 
yet the Reader of these loose hints may be 
curious to know, when the first Settle- 
ments took place ; and under what auspi- 
ces they were established. 1 shall briefly 
transcribe the meao;re Historians of 
Canada ; I say meagre, in point of facts ; 
for both La Hontan, and Charlevoix are 
insufferably verbose ; and the ponderous 
Quartos of the latter, may be called any 
thins: but meaorre. 

The Island of Newfoundland, that in-* 
hospitable waste of naked rocks, and 



250 

barren mountains, which lies at the mouth 
of the River St. Lawrence, and which is 
supposed, notwithstanding its immense 
extent, to have never had any aboriginal 
Inhabitants ; none but wandering Eski- 
maux from the neighbouring Coast of 
Labrador havingf ever been observed 
there ; was first discovered by John Ca- 
bot, a Venetian Adventurer, under the 
patronage of Henry Vil. of England. But 
no advantage whatever was derived from 
this discovery, until after the lapse of 
half a century, Avhen the French Naviga- 
tors began to frequent these seas for Fish ; 
and the two Nations long enjoyed, with- 
out molestation from each other, the pri- 
vilege of drying Cod on the snores of 
this Island, by prudently occupying the one 
the southern and northern — and the other 
only the Eastern coast.* 



* The Banks of Newfnundlaiid, so called, are strictly 
speaking, a stibinarinc mountain, of great extent, no where 
covered with less than twenty fathom of water, and varying 
from that depth to sixty and upwards. It is ascertained, 
bjr soundings, that there are vast quantitiei of shells, upon 



25-1 

. it was in 1523 that Francis F. king oi 
France, commissioned John Verazzani, a 
Florentine, then in his service, to make 
discoveries (which were then considered 
in the same Hght as Conquests) in Ameri- 
ca, He sailed from Dieppe, and returned 
to Dieppe the same year ; and this is all 
that is now known of his first voyage. — 
In 1 525, however, he set sail again, rang- 
ed the Coast of America, from South to 
North J and, having touched at New- 
foundland, returned as before. He now 
prepared to plant a Colony in North 
America; and sailed from France for 
that purpose ; but was never afterward 
heard of. 

these banks, and immense mulliludes of fish, of various 
sizes, which sei-v'e for nourisliment to the Cod, which is so 
much prized in Europe. This, it seems, is one of the most 
voracious of Fish. Both glass andiron are often found in 
its stomach, which, by the provision of nature, has a power 
of inverting itself, and thus disgorging its indigestible con- 
tents. Their number is apparently inexhaustible, seeing 
that two or three hundred vessels have been annually 
freighted with them, for the last three centuriee, without 
any apparent dimipution. 



252 

The River St. Lawrence, one of the 
largest bodies of fresh water on the sur- 
face of the Globe, received its name 
from Jacques Cartier, who, in the year 
1535, had ascended the River, as far 
as the place where Montreal now 
, stands, in the vain hope of finding a 
nearer passage to China ; the fruitless 
research which so long engrossed the 
attention of European Navigators; with 
a small ship or two, from St. Maloes, a 
sea port of France, upon the coast of 
Brittany. 

That magnificent monarch, Francis I. 
still occupied the throne of France: 
but that Prince being engaged, at home, 
in perpetual conflicts, with his formida- 
ble Rival, Charles V. of Spain, from 
this period, until the beginning of the 
following century, no eflfectual attempts 
were made, by Europeans, to form a 
settlement in Canada. 



25li 

When Jacques Carticr arrived at the 
island called by him Montreal, from the 
singular mountain which there rises^ 
in solitary majesty, over the present 
Town ; they found there an Indian vil- 
lage, or rather, a fortified town; since 
the fifty cabins, of which it was com- 
posed, were surrounded by a triple row 
of palisades. It was called Hochelaga, 
and it was under the command of a 
Chief, whose name has not been pre- 
served, so far as I know. 

Although Jacques Cartier appears to 
have been prevented, either by discour- 
agement, or inability, from returning to 
take possession of Montreal ; yet in 1541 
Francis de la Roque, Seigneur de Ro- 
berval, a Nobleman of Picardy, having 
been endowed by the King with the 
unlimited powers of Viceroy of Cana- 
da, set sail, with no fewer than five 
small vessels, for New France j where 
he planted a Colony, at the head of 
w 



254 

which he placed Cartier, who had ac- 
companied him ; and went back to 
France to prosecute the interests of the 
new settlement at Court. 

On his returning the next year, with 
flresh recruits, he met, opportunely, his 
newColonists,oflr Newfoundland, return- 
ing home, in despair of relief. He 
readily persuaded them to return ; and 
this enterprising nobleman made after- 
ward several other voyages, in prosecu- 
tion of his favourite settlement, before 
the last unfortunate embarkation, in 
1549; when he was lost, at sea; upon 
which the Colony was broken up; and 
with this unfortunate event terminated 
the first attempts at colonization upon 
the river St. Lawrence. 

The protestants of France, unlike 
those of England, appear to have been 
little disposed, in this age, to expatriate 
themselves, for the sake of the free ex- 



255^ 

ercise of their religion : being headed 
at home by Men of quality, and influence, 
^vho for a long time maintained a suc- 
cessful stand against the power of the 
Crown, and the intolerance of the 
Clergy. Yet about this time Coligni, 
then admiral of France, and afterward 
remarkable for sutfering martyrdom in 
the tumultuous massacre of St. Barthol- 
omew ; with the permission of Charles 
IX, over whose weak mind he appears to 
have enjoyed great influence, notwith- 
standing his religion, attempted a settle- 
ment in Florida; for the retreat of the 
Calvinists, or Hugonots of France. But 
these unfortunate Emigrants were not 
long afterward indiscriminately murder- 
ed, by the Spaniards, under the express 
directions of the gloomy tyrant, Philip II. 

In the year 1598, the Marquis de la 
Roche, a Nobleman of Brittany, was 
again commissioned as Viceroy. His 
Colonists were Convicts from the 



256 



French prisons; and he left them be- 
hind, to perish upon the isle of Sable; I, 
being prevented from returning to their I 
rehef by untoward circumstances; in w 
consequence of which, he is said to have 
died of grief. 

Other attempts to people Canada, 
continued to be made, from time to 
time ; but they were all equally unsuc- 
cessful. 

Champlain (the future Father of the 
Colony) came over, for the first time, 
in 1603; and returned to France the 
same year. But in 1604, the Sieur de 
Monts, a Calvinist, obtained permission 
from Henry IV. to exercise his religion 
in America; obliging himself, oddly 
enough, to promote the Catholic faith 
among the Savages. His object was 
the Peltries of Canada, which had 
now become an important branch of 
commerce. 



257 

He established his company upon 
the coast of Acadie, now Nova Scotia, 
where he found a rich soil, covered 
with gigantic woods, and abounding 
with game of every description. 

It was in the year ] 608 that Samuel 
de Charaplain, an enterprising and intel- 
ligent Merchant, of the town of Dieppe, 
in Normandy, who had been for some 
years engaged in the above mentioned 
traffic of Furs, resolved upon establish- 
ing himself, permanently, in the New 
World. 

Henry IV, the Prince so long idol- 
ized in France, as the only favourite of 
the People, in a long line of Sovereigns, 
now swayed the sceptre, in his na- 
tive Country; but it does not appear 
that that easy, and amiable. Monarch, 
gave himself any concern about the 
claims of his crown, upon the unknown 
regions of the North. The kingdoms 
w 2 



258 

of Spain and Portugal had been fortu- 
nate in their American Acquisitions. 
They had discovered mines of gold and 
silver sufficient to tempt their cupidity, 
across half the globe : but even Eng- 
land had not yet established Colonies, 
for the sake of Commerce; and it is not 
to be wondered at, that the French, 
who despise the useful, but unostenta- 
tious pursuits of trade, in compari- 
son of the fancied glories of vt^ar and 
conquest, should see nothing attractive 
in a country, which opened to them no 
prospects but those of honest, and in- 
dustrious thrift. 

When Champlain surveyed the banks 
of the Great River, for the choice of a 
suitable situation, for his infant Colony, 
it is asserted, upon the authority of tra- 
dition, that when they came in sight of 
the lofty Promontory, that reared its 
head between the two rivers, St. Law- 
rence and St. Charles, some of his At- 
tendants cried out, at the first sight of 



259 

this abrupt, and imposing eminence, 
Quel bee ! and the bold Adventurer is 
said to have immediately adopted this 
exclamation, in his native tongue, as the 
future name of his projected town. 

No later than the next year we find 
Champlain, under the romantic notions 
of honour, which then prevailed, in 
Europe, imprudently engaged in an In- 
dian war. He found the Algonqui'is of 
the vicinity of Quebec, and the Hurons 
of the fertile Island since named Mon- 
treal, at war (according to the immemo- 
rial custom of neighbouring Savages,) 
with the Iroquois, a powerful confede- 
ration on the western border of the 
present States of New-York, and Penn- 
sylvania. 

The Indians of North America, a 
generous, and intelligent. Race of Men, 
would seem to have required the excite- 
ment of war and bloodshed, in default 



260 



of the active pursuits, and ingenious occu- 
pations, of civilized life, to preserve them 
from sinking into the torpidity of indo- 
lence ; rather than for the indulgence of 
the brutal passions of anger and revenge. 
Can the European Sophist assign as 
plausible a reason for the frequency of 
wars, amono- civilized Nations ? Much 
less among professing Christians — fight- 
ing under the same banner — professing 
to obey the same spiritual Commander ? 
Since the plea of aggression can •■.never 
be good, on both sides; and even in 
defensive wars, which are mostly held 
to be justifiable, on the principle of ne- 
cessity ; that system (no less prudent 
than humane, I refer to universal expe- 
rience) is sure to be abandoned, with all 
its advantages^ as soon as opportunities 
occur for retaliation, or reprisal. 

In the spring of 1 609 he headed a large 
Party of the Savages (the name seems to 
be now not unappropriate) who were 



261 

' going against the Iroquois, upon the great 
Lake, to which the French Adventurer, 
then gave his own name. They penetrat- 
ed into the lake, by the river since called 
the Sorel ; and Champlain remarked that 
the fertile Islands of the Lake were full 
of Roebucks, Deer, Elks, and other wild 
animals, particularly Beavers, who abso- 
lutely swarmed in those unfrequented 
retreats, wherein they had never been dis- 
turbed by the restless avarice of Man. 

The two Parties met, accidentally, 
upon the Lake ; but it seems the Indians 
of America were not accustomed to fight 
on the water; though they were such 
perfect masters of the paddle, that the 
Descendants of the most polished Nation 
in Europe, have never yet made any im- 
provement upon their canoes for river 
navigation. 

They landed, upon this occasion, on the 
Eastern shore, where they fought with 



262 

bows and arrows, the only missile wea- 
pons of which they were then possessed. 
The French fusees soon decided the for- 
tune of the day ; and the Iroquois fled, 
with terror, after a few discharges ; which 
were accompanied with the loss of many 
of their Leaders, cut down by the unerring 

aim of the European rifle. 

Only two years afterward Champlain 
went again, on the same idle expedition ; 
now soothing his conscience with the fond 
imagination, that it might be a means of 
spreading the knowledge of the cross ; 
and procuring the future establishment of 
a permanent peace. The Algonquins, or 
rather the French, for the victory was 
gained by their fire arms, were now again 
victorious. 

In 161.5, " Like a true knight errant 
" of the woods and lakes," says Char- 
levoix, (from whose authority I derive 
tUe ancient history of Canada) Cham- 



263 

plain was inconsiderate enough to make 
a third of these marauding expedi- 
tions, to please his Savage Neighbours, 
the Hurons of Hochelaga. He now 
received several wounds from the Iro- 
quois ; who had bj this time recovered 
from their surprise, at the novel instru- 
ments of warfare, adopted by their 
enemies ; and the Hurons retreated, 
with great loss; carrying off their wound- 
ed, in a sort of wicker baskets, con- 
structed for that purpose. 

Only two years after this, so little 
popularity had Champlain gained among 
his more immediate Neighbours, by his 
imprudent courtesy, these same Allies of 
his had plotted to rid themselves of the 
New Comers ; and the timely discovery 
of the plot, alone prevented its execu- 
tion. 

Thus was the Colony of New France 
ipimersed in ruinous contests, with th^ 



264 

Natives, from its very first establish- 
ment; and we need look no farther to 
account for its retarded progress, and 
protracted population, at the end of 
half a century. 

But, in justice to the Indians of North 
America, let it never be forgotten, that 
they every where received the New 
Comers, with open arms ; and, w hile 
they conducted themselves peaceably, 
entertained no ideas of repulsing, much 
less of exterminating the Intruders : 

Accordingly when William Penn laid 
the foundation of his Colony, in peace 
and friendship ; the only treaty, it has 
been wittily observed by Voltaire, that 
was not ratified by an oath,, and that never 
was broken ; a Peace of eighty years was 
the happy consequence : and when it 
was at length infringed, in the prosecu- 
tion of European quarrels, the peace- 
ful Followers of Penn withdrew from a 



265 

Government, which could no longer be 
administered, without the use of the 
sword. 

In the year 1 620, the Marshall de 
Montmorency purchased the Viceroy* 
alty of New France, of his brother-in- 
law, the Prince of Conde, (only brother 
to Lewis XIII.) who had caused himself 
to be invested with the proud title of 
Viceroy of New France ; apparently 
without the least intention of interesting 
himself in the affairs of the Colony. 

The Marshall appears to have slight- 
ed the bauble, as soon as it had grati- 
fied his vanity, parting with it in 1623, 
to his nephew Henry de Levi, Duke of 
Ventadour, in the same ignoble man- 
ner in which he had acquired it. From 
the surname of this Nobleman, it will 
be remarked, comes the name of Point 
Levi. It is, I believe, the only memento 

X 



266 

of his administration that can now be 
traced in Canada. 

In the next year (1624) the power- 
ful league of the Iroquois, made a 
general attack upon the French Settle- 
ments, in the hope of exterminating the 
obnoxious Intruders ; but they were 
repulsed, with great slaughter. 

The Duke de Ventadour was a De- 
votee of the fashion of the times, 
(Charles V. had but a little before strove, 
in vain, to shroud his royal temples in the 
cowl of a monk, and to bury imperial 
solicitudes in the oblivion of a cloister.) 
He only wished for the Viceroyalty of 
Canada, as a means of facilitating his 
views for the conversion of the Savages : 
tor which purpose he engaged the Je- 
suits, that sect of the Catholic Church 
which was, at its first institution, remark- 
able for application, zeal, and talent; 
so many of whose Members, apparently 



267 

denying the honours, the interests, and 
the pleasures of this life, were after- 
wards selected, by the Sovereigns of 
Europe, as their Prime Ministers, or 
bosom Counsellors. 

In 1625 (1 mark the epoch, with ex- 
actness, because I consider it as a date 
of the first importance, in the history 
of Canada) the Duke sent over three 
Fathers and two Brethren, of that dis- 
tinguished order.* 

During all this time, viz. from 1608 
to the period of the arrival of the Je- 
suits, Champlain appears to have rarely 
remained above one, two, or at most, 
three years, at a time, in America, al- 

■ When the possessions of tlie Jesuits fell to the British 
Crown, a few years since, on the demise of the last incum- 
bent, (for the Jesuits in Canada were protected from the ge- 
neral proscription which awaited them in Europe) they 
were valued at an income of ten thousand pounds sterling 
a year. The whole was appropriated by the British nation, 
with its usual munificence, to the establishment of Public 
Schools, 



268 

though the affairs of the Colony always 
went ill in his absence. 

The next year, however, (1626) 
three more Jesuits arrived from France, 
with a number of industrious mechan- 
ics ; and now, says Charlevoix, " Que- 
" bee began to assume the appearance 
" of a town : for till then it had been 
"but a fortified trading house, and it 
" was not considered, at home, in any 
^^ other light." 

In 1627, another form was given to 
the government of New France, by 
Cardinal Richelieu ; the Duke de Ven- 
tadour gave up his Viceroyalty, and the 
affairs of Canada were afterward ma- 
naged by a Company of Merchants, 
with the Cardinal at their head ; until the 
next wars between France and England, 
and the clashing interests of their re- 
spective Colonies, rendered a military 
Commander indispensable. 



269 

The first Missionaries, in Canada, 
appear to have been men of eminent 
pietjs and zeal ; whose labours were 
wonderfully blessed among the Hurons; 
though their well-meant exhortations 
were rejected bj inimical Tribes; and 
many of the zealous Fathers in time of 
war, suffered martyrdom for the profes- 
sion of their faithJ^ 

The superannuated Survivors of this 
early period of simplicity and devotion 
(it was considered as the golden Age of 
Canada) have always been venerated 
as the Patriarchs of New France. Some 
of them were yet alive, though bending 



^ Among other affecting instances of conversion, which 
then occurred, among the Savages, so called, an old Chief- 
tain is mentioned, by Charlevoix, of a hundred years of 
age ; who had been baptized, by the Jesuits, but a little 
before his death. He said, in his last illness, with great 
tenderness and self-abasement: "Seigneur! Jai commencfe 
" bien tard, a vous aimer!" Lord! I have begun to love 
thee, very late. 

X 2 



270 

beneath the weight of years and ser- 
vices, when Charlevoix made his first 
visit to the New World ; and their me- 
mory is still preserved in Canada, with 
apostolic veneration. 

In the year 1629, under the pretence 
afforded by the siege of Rochelle, an 
English fleet, said to be conducted by a 
French Protestant, who was inimical to 
the Colony, attacked, and easily made 
themselves masters of Quebec ; at a 
time when the infant settlement had re- 
duced itself, by its own mismanage- 
ment, and the failure or neglect of its 
harvest, to a state so nearly approaching 
starvation, that they could scarcely re- 
frain from opening their gates to the 
enemy, as their deliverer from the still 
greater evil, with which they had been 
threatened. The transient Conquest 
was, however, restored, by amicable 
compromise, between the two Sove- 



271 

reigns, at the treaty of St. Germains, 
in 1632.* 

In the year 1635, died Samuel de 
Champlain, who has justly been deno- 

" There is something so exquisitely artless, in Charlevoix's 
account of the ditterent manner in which tlie English Set- 
tlers treated the Indians, from that by which the French 
had gained the affections of their savage Neighbours, that 
I cannot forbear transcribing it, for the amusement of the 
Reader — " The English, during the little time in which they 
" had been masters of the Country, had not known how to 
" acquire the good will of the Savages : The Hurons never 
" appeared at Quebec, as long as the English remained 
" there. The other Tribes that resided nearer to the capital ; 
'' many of whom, on account of particular causes of dis- 
" satisfaction, had openly declared against us, on the ap- 
" proach of the English Squadron, showed themselves after- 
*' ward very rarely. All were disconcerted, when, upon 
" taking the same liberties with the New Comers, which 
" they had been accustomed to do with the French, they 
" perceived that such manners gave offence. 

" It was still worse, some time afterward, when they saw 
" themselves driven out of those houses, with blows, where, 
" till then, they had entered as freely as into their own ca- 
" bins. They accordingly kept at a distance from the 
" English habitations ; and nothing afterward more strongly 
" attached them to our interests, than this difference of 
<* manners and disposition, between the two Nations " 
{Vol. I. p. 171>, Paris Edition 1744.] 



272 

minated the Father of New France. 
This circumstance cast a damp upon 
the joy occasioned hy the restoration of 
the Colony, to its original governors j 
that was heightened, a year or two after 
that event, by a general sickness among 
the Hurons; which had well nigh swept 
a\yay the Indians of Canada, by a 
bloody flux. The French, it seems, 
were seized by the same disorder: but 
to them it was not fatal ; whether owing 
to the difference of their constitutions, 
or the different manner of treating the 
complaint. 

The Court had early forbidden the 
Protestants to go to New France, and it 
does not appear that any of that long per- 
secuted People ever established them- 
selves permanently, on the banks of the 
St. Lawrence; but upon the Revocation of ' 
the Edict of Nantz, toAvard the close of 
this century, a considerable body of those 
humble and devout Professors of the 



273 

Christian faith, who might say with St. 
Paul : " After the way which they call 
♦' heresy, so worship I the God of my 
*' Fathers ;" took refuge in the then Pro- 
vince of New-York, where their Posterity 
have become numerous and respectable. 

In 1642 the Hollanders of Manhat- 
tan are mentioned as furnishino; the Iro- 
quois with fire arms, and spiritous li- 
quors, and from this period, which ap- 
pears to have terminated the golden age 
of Canada, we read of nothing for twenty 
years ; but wars without, and conspiracies 
within; and the whole history of New 
France is but a tissue of attacks, and 
reprisals ; of missions, received, or reject- 
ed ; of dissentions between the civil, and 
ecclesiastical, authorities. 

To these calamities were added those 
of famine and pestilence, under the effects 
of which we can scarcely wonder, consi- 
dering the temper of the times, that 
fmces were heard upon earthy and portents 



274 

appeared in the air. There were eclipses 
of the sun, and halos round the moon. 
Strange lights were seen to traverse the coun- 
try, in the day ; and globes of fire gleamed 
among the shades of night. Witches, 
however, do not appear to have ever 
haunted Canada, though they were not 
unheard of, at this period, in France. 

All these thino-s were considered as 
manifest intimations of the wrath of God ; 
and such was indeed the situation of the 
unhappy Colonists about the year 1660, 
that they did not dare to leave the forts, 
without an escort ; and during some time 
the Sisters of the two Nunneries, in the 
outskirts of Quebec, used to retire into 
the city, every night, for safety. The 
harvest could not be gathered in, and se- 
rious thoughts Avere entertained of aban- 
doning the Settlement, and returning to 
France. Seven hundred Iroquois kept 
Quebec, all summer, in a state of siege. 
The next year, however, these people 
(it seems they were not inveterate ene- 



275 

mies) sent a flag down ilie great river, 
with proposals of peace, demanding, as the 
only condition, the residence of a Mis- 
sionary among them. The proposition 
was gladly embraced by the humbled 
Colonists ; and they now set themselves 
to repair the losses which they had sus- 
tained, by neglecting to cultivate the arts 
of peace, rather than those of war. 

In the year 1663 there were several 
shocks of an Earthquake, which are said 
to have been felt throughout New Eno;- 
land, and New Holland. The Earth- 
quake would appear to have been real : 
though its effects are evidently exagge- 
rated by the credulous Historian, since, 
though the houses were shaken from side to 
side, none of them fell down ; and in 
the yawning chasms which were seen to 
open in the bosom of the earth, no person 
appears to have perished. 

But all these supposed indications of 
the wrath of that merciful Father, and 



276 

ah gracious Benefactor, who causeth 
his sun to shine upon the righteous and 
the wicked, and sendeth rain alike 
upon the just, and upon the unjust, were 
now at an end: a new epoch com- 
menced under brighter auspices ; and 

In 1663, the King (Lewis XIV.) took 
the Government into iiis own hands. 
His Majesty sent out the Marquis de 
Tracy as Viceroy of New France ; the 
old Trading Company before mention- 
ed, relinquishing the privileges, which 
had turned to so little account in their 
hands, to a new Association, called the 
West India Company, which was mo- 
delled by the great Colbert. 

It was in the year 1671, that the first 
discovery was made by rambling Voy- 
ageurs, of the existence of that great 
river in the West, which was destined 
for the future outlet of an industrious 
(perhaps immense) population, by the 
Gulf of Mexico. It now only served to 



277 

confirm the ambitious views of France 
for the subjection of North America. 

In 1672 arrived the Count de Fron- 
tenac, as Governor General ; who built 
fort Cataraqui, now Kingston, at the en- 
trance of Lake Ontario. But the 
haughty manners of this Nobleman 
gave universal umbrage in America, 
and he was recalled by his Royal Mas- 
ter in 1682. He returned again, how- 
ever, in 1689, with renewed powers, the 
French king then entertaining the pro- 
ject of possessing himself of the more 
fertile Province of New-York ; a design 
which appears to have been prevented, 
at the time, by an irruption of the Iro- 
quois ; and afterward prudently aban- 
doned. 

In the summer of 1690, before the 
Count's arrival, the Five Nations had 
attacked Montreal. They landed at La 
Chine, twelve hundred strong, and 



sacked all the Plantations on the Islands 
The French at the same time had been 
obliged to abandon Cataraqui, and the 
neighbouring Indians, were with diffi- 
culty prevented from joining the Iro- 
quois, by the personal influence of the 
Sieur Perot, then Governor of Mon- 
treal, to whom they were strongly at- 
tached. New France is said to have 
been on this occasion reduced almost 
as low, as it had been in 1663, by a 
concurrence of similar circumstances. 

In the year 1690, a joint invasion of 
Canada was concerted between New 
England, that was to attack Quebec by 
sea, and New-York, that was to invest 
Montreal by land. Major Peter Schuy- 
ler commanded the party sent from 
New-York, having been joined at Alba- 
ny by a body of Indians, some of whom 
were now always enlisted in every 
quarrel between their European Neigh- 
bours. He penetrated as far as the 



279 

Prairie de la Madeleine, where he was 
repulsed by the Count de Frontenac, 
who was there posted, with a large 
body of French and Indians. The fleet 
destined to attack Quebec, consisting 
of thirty sail, fitted out in the Ports of 
Massachusetts, was commanded by Sir 
William Phips. Arriving before the 
town on the 5th of October, Sir William 
summoned the Count de Frontenac, 
who had by this time returned from 
Montreal, to surrender the place. In 
the chronicles of the times the pompous 
message is said to have received an inso- 
lent answer. Upon this he landed, a few 
miles below, thinking to take the town 
by storm : but he was so warmly receiv- 
ed by the French Commander, that he 
was fain to re-embark, in the night, leav- 
ing behind him all his baggage and ar- 
tillery. The fleet now cannonaded the 
town, but with little effect ; and being 
driven from their moorings, by stress of 
weather, Sir William retired, in disor- 



280 

der, on the 12th of October, under the 
necessity of avoiding the approach of 
t\inter. Several of the Ships of thi^ 
unfortunate Squadron were blown off 
to the West Indies, as they endeavour- 
ed to make the coast of New England ; 
and some of them were wrecked in the 
Bay of St. Lawrence, or never more 
heard of. Sir William himself did not 
arrive at Boston, with the shattered re- 
mainder, until the 19th of November. 

Quebec had been, for the first time, 
regularly fortified, in the summer of 
1690, and was thus enabled to resist a 
formidable attack, which it would have 
been utterly unable to withstand, had it 
taken place but a few months before. 

The English and Dutch Settlers, upon 
the more favourable coasts and rivers 
to the south, had now become suffi- 
ciently populous and powerful to stimu- 
late the Iroquois or Five Nations, [See 



J' 



281 

the Appendix No. III.) to commence 
hostilities upon the French, during the 
frequent wars which have been always 
taking place between those two power- 
ful and warlike Nations. 

The early emigrations were princi- 
pally from the Northern coasts of 
France, which would seem to be one of 
the reasons why no Protestants engag- 
ed in this Colonial adventure, the great 
body of the Protestants of France be- 
ing situated on the coasts of the Medi- 
terranean ; whilst the migrations from 
England were almost entirely confined 
to Dissenters from their National Es- 
tablishment; a circumstance which has 
probably had no small share in pro- 
ducing the various fortunes of the res- 
pective Colonies. 

The Society of Jesuits had been 
among the first to locate and improve 

Y 2 



282 

the Island of Montreal, which they 
founded agreeable to traditional record, 
by the express command of Lewis 
XIV. as far up the great river as it was 
possible for ships to sail. They were 
followed in IGO? by the Abbe Quetus, 
and the brotherhood of St. Sulpice. 

From this time, till the Conquest of 
Canada by the English, which oc- 
curred in the year 1759, there conti- 
nued to take place, at distant inter- 
vals, repeated incursions, on both sides, 
between the French and English Pro- 
vinces, as likewise that of the Dutch, 
with various degrees of success, or 
rather of disappointment and disas- 
ter : for the French never gained any 
ground upon the neighbouring frontier, 
and the hardy Sons of New England 
had more than once invaded Canada, 
to as little purpose, or rather worse 
than none ; particularly in the year 
1711. when Admiral Walker was cast 



283 

away in the Bay of St. Lawrence, 
with a fleet of ships intended to co- 
operate in another attack upon Que- 
bec ; before General Abercrombie, at 
the head of fifteen thousand Men, 
was repulsed (in 1758) by the French 
and Indians, at Ticonderoga; a for- 
midable out post at the confluence 
of Lake George and Lake Champlain 
— now far within the acknowledged 
boundary of the United States. 

It was before this savage entrench- 
ment, the remains of which may still 
be traced, by those who sail upon those 
inland waters, that the first Lord Howe 
lost his life. The same Nobleman, 
whose two Sons afterward acted so con- 
spicuous, yet so negative a part, the 
one as Admiral, the other as Comman- 
der in Chief, in the struggle that soon 
afterward took place between the Bri- 
tish Colonies, and the Mother Country, 
for Continental Independence. 



284 

In the following year General Wolfe 
succeeded in wresting Quebec out of 
the hands of the Marquis de Montcalm, 
who fell, together with the successful 
Invader, in the same bloody field. The 
Marquis is said to have replied, with 
characteristic magnanimity, when he 
was told that he had but a few hours to 
live — " So much the better ! — I shall 
" not live to see the surrender of Que- 
" bee." 

During the Revolutionary contest, in 
the year 1775, the American General 
Montgomery fell, in like manner, dur- 
ing a fruitless attack upon Quebec. — 

And the British General Burgoyne 
in 1777, having descended Lake Cham- 
plain, and dissipated his mighty force, 
among the trackless woods, which then 
surrounded it on all sides, was fain, at 
Saratoga, to strike the Royal standard 
to that very undisciplined multitude 



285 

whom his fulminating proclamation from 
Illinois ; for we are not the only People 
that are chargeable with similar rho- 
domontades, had begun with denomina- 
ting Rebels and Traitors. 

Five and thirty years after this event, 
in the year 1812, during another strug- 
gle between the same Parties, in sup- 
port of National pretensions, the Bri- 
tish Commodore Downie, with five or 
six sloops of war, was completely dis- 
comfitted by M'Donough, the American 
Commander, upon the same Lake Cham- 
plain ; and the trophies of his victory, 
their dismantled hulks, still exhibit their 
black and battered sides, among the 
dark firs, and frowning precipices of 
Wood Creek. 

Sir George Provost, who had pene- 
trated to Plattsburgh, at the head of 
fifteen thousand men, precipitately re- 
treating to St. Johns, upon this event, 



2ai) 

taking place before his eyes, without 
his being able to do any thing to pre- 
vent the unexpected catastrophe.* 

Such are the melancholy details of 
National Prowess, alas! that it should 
have been hitherto in vain for Moralists, 
Philosophers, and Poets, under the im- 
mediate sanction of the Prince of 
Peace, the Captain of our salvation, 
to deprecate the unnecessary effusion of 
blood, in National quarrels. — 



Ah ! what more shews the vanity of life, 

Than to behold the Nations all on fire, 

In cruel broils engaged, and deadly strife ; 

Most Christian Kings inflamed by black desire^ 

With honourable Ruffians in their hire, 

Cause war to rage, and blood around to pour ; 

Of this sad work, when each begins to tire, 

They set them down, just where they were before; 

Till for new scenes of woe peace shall their force restore . 



• I say MOthing of the turgid Manifestoes, and retrograde 
manoeuvres of General Hull, or General Smytlie, u|>on 
Canadian ground ; and many other futile attempts on both 
aides to penetrate inte each others borders — in pure bra« 



287 
^rHE ANCIENT NOBLESSE. 

Op the ancient Noblesse of Canada, the 
Counts (M Longueil and St. Lawrence 
have long been extinct ; and the small 
remainder, being now deprived of the ad- 
vantages of privilege and prepossession; 
and having no longer any other chance 
for the appointments of power and profit ; 
but what they must derive, in common 
with their fellow subjects, from personal 
merit, are rapidly sinking into decay, 
or insignificance. Events which they are 
said to have accelerated, by their own 
inattention to qualify themselves for public 
confidence ; and their neglecting to pre- 
serve their families from the supposed 
contamination of Plebeian intermixture. 

vado — or on marauding expeditions, without end or aim — 
since they all terminated, as usual, in such cases, in the dis- 
grace, or discomfiture, of the Invader ; and served no other 
purpose than to add another lesson to the many already 
forgotten by disappointed Ambition, upon the inevitablt 
mischances of offensive war. 



288 

Yet there still remain in Montreal, and 
at Boucherville, in dignified retirement, 
the noble Families of Lavigniere, De 
Beau Jeu, Dechambault, De la Nau- 
DiERE, and others. And at Quebec are 
yet found the ancient Chevaliers de 
Lery. 

The Baronies of Port Neuf and of 
LoNGEuiL, preserve, upon parchment, the 
obsolete titles of their ancient Lords ; but 
those dignities no longer descend, with the 
estates ; and they may be considered as 
virtually extinct, since the honours which 
they claim have not been derived from the 
British Crown. 

I much doubt the correctness of my 
orthography, in these foreign denomina- 
tions, but I have now no means of cor- 
recting it ; having collected most of this 
local information, on Board the Steam 
Boat, in Lake Champlain, not from 
printed documents, to which I might 



289 

again recur, but from two Canadian Gen- 
tlemen, one of them a Father, and the 
other a Batchelor Brother, of reserved 
habits, but o( gentle manners^ and affections 
mild* They reminded me of Sterne's^ 
" my Father and Uncle Toby,"' calculat- 
ing the possibilities of his eldest brother 
Bobby's projected tour of Europe. For 
these two good souls were going, all the 
way to Philadelphia^ to accompany the 
hope of the Family (a well grown youth, 
whom American Parents would have con- 
sidered fully competent to the task of 
taking care of himself) on his way to 
take shipping for France; to perfect him- 
self in the celebrated Schools of Paris, 
for the practice of physic. Which it 
seems is a profession less willingly em- 
braced, in Canada, by youths of family or 
spirit, than that of the Law — Creoles 
having no chance for preferment in the 
Army. 

*Pope. 

z 



290 

They had heard the well-merited 
fame of our Penitentiary, and were so- 
licitous to inform themselves of its de- 
tails, as there is a probability that some, 
at least, of its beneficial provisions, 
may be adopted, in the new places of 
correction, and confinement, which are 
now erecting at Montreal. I told them 
what I knew of the system, and recom- 
mended them to apply to the benevo- 
lent Managers of that Institution, for 
the information which I know they will 
most willingly impart. 

Thus the benevolent (may I not say, 
with reverence, the godlike) plan of 
correcting, with a view to reform, ra- 
ther than punish, is generally extend- 
ing itself, from Land to Land. May it 
one day pervade the World, and do 
away the barbarous custom of inflicting 
sanguinary punishments, in the face of 
day j with which the streets of the most 



291 

polished capitals in Europe, now shock 
the feelings of the American Traveller I 

And here, being already in advance 
with my return, let me mention, with 
all due decorum, and attention to eti- 
quette ; as I intend to take French leave 
of my Reader, the moment we clear the 
Isle aux Noix ; that as we passed by 
Champlain, the first American town, 
and port of entry, seven or eight fine 
Salmon were sent aboard — for the Pre- 
sident's dinner ; to be landed at Bur- 
lington, on the opposite side of the 
Lake ; where his Excellency was ex- 
pected to arrive that evening, with a 
numerous Suite, in his progress through 
the Eastern States. 

I should not, perliaps, have thought 
it worth while to mention this important 
circumstance; as I think there has been, 
upon this occasion, rather too much of 
the parade of Royalty ; but that I was 



292 

personally interested in the regal 
compliment. — We were allowed to take 
toll, for the delivery ; and two of these 
princely Fishes were served up upon 
our own table next day. 

They were displayed, in the highest 
.style of culinary magnificence, by the 
Steward (whom I had put upon his cre- 
dit to gratify the Passengers.) The 
Salmon Mere placed whole upon the 
dishes, as Dolphins are usually repre- 
sented, in statuary; with their mouths 
bent inward, their backs elegantly curv- 
ed, over their heads, and their forked 
tails spread upright. 

To return to Montreal, when I was 
here before, I entered Canada at BufTa- 
loe, the Indian village at the outlet of 
Lake Erie ; got wet to the skin, at the 
Falls of Niagara ; crossed Lake On- 
tario, in a sloop, for it was before the 



293 

(Convenient invention of Steam Boats 
had facilitated internal intercourse ; 
took a batteau on the river St. Law- 
rence ; stopped a night in the Lake of 
a thousand Islands ; shot the rapids of 
the Great River, at the rapids of the 
Longue Sault, the Cedars, and the Sault 
St. Louis ; and thus arrived at Montreal, 
by that protracted line of water com- 
munication, which, if we include the 
Mississippi, upon our western border, 
is hardly to be paralleled in the rest of 
the world ; forming a line of internal 
navigation of little less than three thou- 
sand miles in extent, if we reckon from 
the Bay of St. Lawrence, to the Gulph 
of Mexico. 

The powerful State of New-York is 
now tracing a canal across its western 
territories ; which will communicate 
with the great Lakes, without the in- 
tervention of the St. Lawrence ; and the 
z 2 



294 

long-heads in the Canadian Provinces 
begin to apprehend the success of a 
plan almost too stupendous for the ima- 
gination to realize ; which if it should 
be eventually effected, will in a great 
measure leave them without the main 
line of internal communication ; and se- 
cure to superior enterprise and intelli- 
gence, the future benefits of the North 
Western Trade; sending the Peltries 
of Canada, by a shorter cut, to Europe. 

I shall not attempt to describe the 
sensations of amazement with which I 
contemplated the Falls of Niagara, from 
the table rock; which trembled under 
my feet, wljilst I listened, with eager 
attention, to the deep toned thunder, 
at its foot ; but I cannot forhear de- 
scribiiig, or attempting to describe, the 
alternate emotions of terror, and de- 
light, with which I descended, in breath- 
less silence, the Rapids of the Longue 
Sauit, amid the threatening waves. 



295 

which curled around me, in every varie- 
ty of foaming agitation. 

The length of this glittering Rapid, 
to the sublime and beautiful of which, 
is by no means w^anting, the accompa- 
niment of terror^ is estimated at nine 
miles, and the Batteaux usually descend 
it, in twenty minutes. 

The Canadian Watermen mostly 
avoid the Rapids of St. Louis, by land- 
ing above them, on the Island of Mon- 
treal : but the American Raftsmen bid 
defiance to danger; and, in spite of year- 
ly accidents, by which whole floats of 
timber, are sometimes shattered to 
pieces, and their Conductors instantly 
iiigulphed by the waves ; they persevere 
in shooting these dangerous currents. 
When their safety entirely depends 
upon their entering the Rapids, in a 
strait direction, the smallest deviation 
from which is iuevitably fatal; and 



296 

whole masts of pine are seen immedi- 
ately, upon the occurrence of disaster, 
rearing up an end, in the stream, or 
shivering to pieces, upon the rocks. 

I now turn my face to the Southward, 
with renewed dehght; crossing the 
Great River, in all probability for the 
last time, below the Island of St. He- 
lene ; on the banks of which a Mill is 
erected, which works eight pair of 
stones, by the mere force of the cur- 
rent ; which is stopped a few yards 
above, and let out again a few yards 
below. I took the stage for La Prairie, 
near which place a crowd of horses and 
carriages were plunging, through mud 
and water, up to their middies, at the 
most imminent risque of life and limb. 
Because the provident Supervisors had 
unfloored the old bridge, to make use 
of the timbers, in constructing a new^ 
one, before the latter was fit for passen- 
gers. Thus, neither were now passa- 



297 

ble; and among other impatient Vic- 
tims to the awkward arrangement, 
(which is given as a fair specimen of 
Canadian management) was the Collec- 
tor of the Customs, at Montreal. He 
was in a light gig, with a powerful 
horse. The spirited Animal dashed and 
pkmged, forward, till he was entangled 
among bushes, then stopped and looked 
round, with eyes full of meaning ; shook 
his head at the vexatious burthen be- 
hind him ; and, after a while, dashed 
on again, with headstrong rage — then 
stopped again in despair ; and we left 
them both inextricabfy fixed in the bog; 
for no Canadian would lend a hand to 
relieve the Collector^ who, it seems, has 
been very strict in the execution of his 
invidious ofFjce. 

At La Prairie we changed horses, 
and drove rapidly across the flat unin- 
teresting tract, that intervenes betwixt 
the St. Lawrence, and the Sorel ; where 



^> 



298 

the Canadians have long talked, and 
will continue to talk^ of cutting a canal 
between the two rivers, to approximate 
them to the United States. We stopped 
for the night at St. Johns. 

Next morning the Steam Boat was 
not to sail till after breakfast, I there- 
fore strolled out to a large unfinished 
Hotel, and a new English Church, hard 
by. The Projector of these buildings, 
I understood, was an enterprising Yan- 
kec, as Americans are called, in contempt^ 
bj the British in Canada, (though we 

consider it a cog-nomeri at least as dis- 
ci o 

nified as that of John Bull. Before the 
completion of his plans, this unfortu- 
nate Adventurer had broke, and run 
away; but he had left the Buildings be- 
hind him, and the Public must be con- 
sidered as much a sainer bv his exer- 
tions, as if he had not himself been a 
loser by it. What is this but a practical 



29d 

illustration of the adage: " Private vices, 
" Public benefits?" 

In the Churchyard, which appeared 
to have been used, as such, before the 
Church was erected, I noted, among 
the frail memorials, erected nigh^ a stone 
which was inscribed, in English, for 
the English Language already prevails 
here, by a surviving Mother, to the 
memory of 

THE YOUNGEST OF THREE BROTHERS, 

who were all born, 
On the 25th of November, 

1786. 
He died at the age of 23. 

A humbler stone recorded the lamen- 
tation of an affectionate and faithful Wife, 
for 

A COMMON SOLDIER 
of the 49th Regiment; 
proving that the constancy of female vir- 
tue, can withstand the corruption of a 



300 

Camp ; while it alleviates the irksomenesb 
of perpetual restraint, in the deleterious 
atmosphere of indolence and vice* by the 
soothing endearments of conjugal attach- 
ment. 

Many of the Officers in the Canadian 
Garrisons, and some of the Soldiers, it 
seems, are allowed to have their Wives, 
and domestic establishments. Those of 
the Officers are sometimes Ladies of rank, 
and quahty; who have married for love, 
and accompanied their Husbands into the 
Siberia of Britain. 

The bell of the Steam Boat was now 
ringing for departure, and 1 gladly as- 
cended the deck, that was to convey me 
to Republican America; leaving behind 
me, without regret, the glittering para- 
phernalia of Priestly imposition, and all 
the pomp, and circmnstance, of — Military 
parade. 

^ Sir Walter Raleigh. 



301 

May neither Church Establishments, 
nor Standing Armies, ever encroach upon 
the rights of conscience ; or restrain the 
privileges of Political freedom, in that 
more genial climate, and more fertile soil, 
in which our Winthrops, and our Penns, 
disseminated the germs of Civil and Re- 
ligious liberty ; which our Franklins, 
and our Washingtons, asserted, and 
secured. 



FINIS. 



2 A 



APPENDIX. 

No. 1. 

A DESCRIPTION OF THE BEAVER, IN CANADA. 

I AM unwilling to la}' down my pen, till I have 
added some account of that sagacious and perse- 
vering animal, the Beaver. He is the proper em- 
blem of Republican America, and was so adopted 
by Franklin, in his designs for the Continental 
bills. His merits have been strangely overlooked 
by European Naturalists. They would have 
found him an exception to their favourite theory, 
that Nature, for some unknown reason, has a ten- 
dency to belittle lier productions upon the new Con- 
tinent. 

In the deep recesses of Canadian forests, where 
the Beaver is undisturbed by Man, he is a practical 
example of almost every virtue ; Ask now, said 
Solomon, the leasts, and they sliall teach thee. The 
Indians were in the habit of prognosticating the 
mildness or severity of the ensuing winter, from the 
quantity of provision laid in by the Beavers, for 
their winter's stock. 



Tlie Beaver is a pattern of conjugal fidelity, and 
paternal care. Laborious, thrifty, frugal, honest, 
watchful, and ingonious. He submits to govern- 
ment, in the Republican form ; for the benefits of 
j>olitical association ; but is never known, in the 
most powerful communities, to make depredations 
upon his weaker Neighbours. 

On the first arrival of Eiu*opeans, in Canada, the 
Beaver was found of the size of four feet, in length, 
and the weight of fifty or sixty lbs. but all Ani- 
mals, hunted for their furs, or skins, have become 
much less, or rather have been prevented from 
becoming so large, as they were before the ap- 
proach of civilized Man. He is now rarely met 
with of a greater length than three feet, or a 
greater heft than twenty-five to thirty lbs. 

The back of this remarkable animal rises like an 
arc. His teeth are long, broad, strong, and sharp. 
Four of these, two above, and two below, are call- 
ed incisors. These teeth project one or two 
inches, and are curved like a gouge. The toes 
of his fore feet are separated, as if designeJ to 
answer the purpose of fingers. His hind feet are 
fitted with webs, adapted to the purpose of swim- 
ming. His tail is a foot long, an inch thick, and five 
or six inches broad ; it accordingly serves the 
purpose of a trowel, in plastering his dam. 

Wherever a number of these Animals come 
tbgethcrj they imrae;diately combine,, in society, to 



Ill 



perform the common business of constructing their 
habitations ; apparently acting under the most 
intelligent design. Though there is no appearance 
indicating the authority of a chief, or Leader; 
yet no contention or disagreement is ever observed 
among them. 

When a sufficient number of them is collected to 
form a town, the Public business is first attended to ; 
and, as they are amphibious animals, provision is 
to be made for spending their time, occasionally, 
both in, and out of the water. In conformity to 
this law of their nature, they seek a situation which 
is adapted to both these purposes. 

With this view, a lake or pond, sometimes a 
running stream, is pitched upon. If it be a lake, 
or pond, the water in it is always deep enough 
to admit of their swimming under the ice. If it be 
a stream, it is always such a stream as will form a 
pond, that shall be every way convenient for their 
purpose ; and such is their forecast, that they never 
fix upon a situation that will not eventually answer 
their views. 

Their next business is to construct a dam. This 
is always placed in the most convenient part of the 
stream ; the form of it is either strait, rounding, 
or angular, as the peculiarities of the situation re- 
quire ; and no human ingenuity could improve 
their labours, in these respects. 
A a 2 



IV 



The materials they use, are wood, and Earth. — 
They choose a tree on the river side, which will 
readily fall across the stream ; and some of them 
apply themselves, with diligence, to cut it through 
with their teeth. Others cut down smaller trees, 
which they divide into equal, and convenient, 
lengths. Some drag these pieces to the brink of 
the river, and others swim with them to the spot, 
where the dam is forming. » 

As many as can find room, are engaged in 
sinking one end of these stakes ; and as many more 
in raising, fixing, and securing, the other ends of 
them. Others are employed, at the same time, in 
carrying on the plastering part of the work. The 
earth is brought in their mouths, formed into a kind 
of mortar, with their feet and tails : and this is 
spread over the intervals, between the stakes ; 
saplings and twigs being occasionally interwoven, 
with the mud and slime. 

Where two or three hundred Beavers are united, 
these dams are from six to twelve feet thick, at the 
bottom ; at the top, not more than two or three. — 
fn that part of the dam which is opposed to the 
current, the stakes are placed obliquely : but on 
that side where the water is to fall over, they are 
placed in a perpendicular direction. 

These dams are sometimes a hundred feet in 
length, and always of the exact height, which will 
answer their purposes. 



The ponds thus formed sometimes cover five or 
Six hundred acres. They generally spread over 
grounds abounding with trees and bushes of the 
softest wood, Maple, Birch, Poplar, Willow, &c. 
and to preserve the dams against inundation, the 
Beaver always leaves sluices near the middle, for 
the redundant water to pass off. 

When the Public works are completed, the 
Beavers separate into small companies, to build 
cabins or houses for themselves. These are 
built upon piles, along the borders of the pond. — 
They are of an oval construction, resembling a 
bee-hive, and they vary from four to ten feet in 
diameter, according to the number of families 
tliey are to accommodate. 

These dwellings are never less than two stories 
high, generally three ; and sometimes they contain 
four apartments. The walls of these are from two 
to three feet thick, formed of the same materials 
with the dams. On the inside they are made 
smooth, but left rough without, being rendered im- 
penetrable to rain. The lower story is about two 
feet high, the second is formed by a floor of sticks, 
covered with mud, and the upper apartment ter- 
minates with an arched roof. Through each floor 
there is a passage, and the uppermost floor is 
always above the level of the water. 

Each of these huts has two doors, one on the 
land side, to admit of their going out, and seeking 



VI 



provision that way ; another under the water, and 
below where it freezes, to preserve their communi- 
cation with the pond. 

No association of people can possibly appear 
more happy, or be better regulated, than the tribe 
of Beavers. The male and female always pair. — 
In September they lay up their winter's stock, which 
consists of bark, aud the tender twigs of trees. — 
Then commences the season of love, and repose ; 
and during the winter they remain within ; every one 
enjoying the fruits of his o\Vn labour, without 
pilfering from any other. 

Towards spring the females bring forth their 
young, to the number of three or four. Soon after tlie 
male retires to gather firs, and vegetables, as the 
spring opens : but the dam remains at home to 
nurse, and rear up their young. The male oc- 
casionally returns home, but not to tarry, until 
the end of the year; Yet if any injury should 
happen to their works, the whole Society are soon 
collected, by some unknown means, and they join 
all their forces to repair the injury, which has been 
sustained. 

Whenever an enemy approaches their village, the 
Beaver who first perceives the unwelcome stranger, 
strikes on the water with Iris tail, to give notice of 
the approaching danger ; and the whole careful 
Tribe instantly plunges iato the water. — Let us 



Vll 

iiear no more of the half reasoning Elephant ! He 
is but a ninny to the Beaver of America. 

The fur of this wonderful Animal, which is so 
much prized in Commerce, is an interior coat, there 
being a double growth of it, over all parts of the 
body, the outer and longer being of an inferior 
quality, while the inner, being thus preserved from 
air, and injury, is thick, fine, and as soft as silk 
— The sacks which contain the precious oil, used in 
medicine, under the name of castoreum, lie con- 
cealed, behind the kidneys. 

They vary very much in colour. The most es- 
teemed shade is black, and they have been found 
perfectly white; but the general colour of the spe- 
cieg, is a chesnut brown. 

In a state of nature, undisturbed by Man, this 
provident animal lives fifteen or twenty years, and 
prepares for several generations, adapting hjs 
dwellings to the increase of his Family. 



No. 11. 

BOUCHETTES TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF 
THE PROVINCE OF LOWER CANADA. 

After my sketches of Canada were written, and 
since the work was committed to press, I have met 
w'l^h. a Book, which has been lately publisiied, in 



vin 



London, by the Surveyor General of Lower Canada, 
(Joseph Bouchette.) It is a Royal 8vo. of 640 
pages, with a copious Appendix. 

The work is professedly topographical, and in 
that department of science, is not without the me- 
rits of accuracy and minuteness ; but in general 
views, and complicated estimates, it is so palpably 
erroneous, that I have not thought it necessary to 
correct either my statements, or my inferences, 
from such equivocal authority. 

This Book, evidently calculated for the meridian 
of St. James's, is dedicated to the Prince Regent, 
by special permission. It speaks with supercilious 
impertinence of the War of the Revolution, as 
" the period of the Rebellion ;" and describes 
every battle that occurred off the great Lakes, dur- 
ing the last National struggle, as highly honour- 
able to the British Arms ! 

As for the Prince, Qui vult decipi, decipiatur :* 
but the British Nation deserves to be informed, not 
only of — the vahie ; but of — the cost of Canada. 
It is the whole drift of this splendid work (price 
seven Guineas) to countenance the Ministry, in 
their excessive expenditures for the support of Ca- 
nada; and to persuade the People of England, 
that they are not altogether useless to the Nation. 
Industriously obscuring the momentous truth, that, 

<* If he chooses to be deceived, let hixa be dece^et! 



ix 



ia cherishing Upper Canada, Great Britairt is bul 
sowing the seeds of another " Rebellion," for ano- 
ther Washington to gather. 

English Canada, and French Canada, are two 
different things ; the latter will probably be long 
defended by the poverty of its soil, and the severi- 
ty of its climate, behind the insuperable barrier of 
its gigantic River, and the trackless wilderness, 
by which it is flanked. 

To interest his Royal Patron, the Population of 
Lower Canada is carried, by I know not what 
ratio of preternatural increase, to a grand total of 
three hundred and fifty thousand ! and the local, or 
sedentary Militia, including all Males, from sixteen 
to sixty, is pushed, it seems — by the Report of the 
Adjutant General, (who, no doubt, has substantial 
reasons for the amount of his return) to the formi- 
dable number of fifty-two thousand five hundred ! — 

So much for presumption — now for proof. — It 
shall be furnished by the Author himself. 

" In the year 166.3," says he, " the Population 
'•'of Canada, or, as it was then called. La Nouvelle 
" France, very little exceeded seven thousand 
« souls." [p. 6.] 

" In 1714, they could hardly number twenty 
*' thousand souls." [p, 6.] 

" In 1759, the Population may be estimated at 
" s eventy thousand." [p. 7-] 



" From this date," according to Boucliette, " tht 
"^^ prosjjerity of Canada has been progressive (the 
" loss of National spirit and subjection to Foreign 
" domination notwithstanding !) Some increase in 
" the Population," says he, " is accordingly ob- 
" servable : for in the year 1775, it amounted to 
" something more than ninety thousand." [p. 8.] 

No great increase is made out here — only twenty 
thousand from '59 to '75, a period of thne in which 
particular portions of the United States have near- 
ly trebled their numbers. 

But now comes the increase of the French in 
Canada : however tardy it had been from 1663 to 
1714 ; and from 1714 to 1759 ; nay, even from the 
period of the " Rebellion" to the then present 
moment. — That is to say, between the years 
1775 and 1814. " In the course of only thirty- 
*' nine years (to use this credulous calculator's 
own words) a capitation [what capitation ?] 
" shows an increase to have taken place from nine- 
" ty thousand, to no less a number than two hun- 
" dred and seventy-five thousand native Canadians, 
" Descendants of the original French Settlers. An 
••' estimate," as the Author himself e.xclaims, in 
amaze, " which will be viewed, with astonishment, 
** by every reflecting person /" 

But — Courage, gentle Reader, this astonishing 
calculation is purely anticipatory — at least half the 
number will vanish before the penetrating ray of 



XI 

Truth. — Like " the Jail and Court-House at Trois 
'• Rivieres," which this same credible witness calls, 
" handsome, modern, stone Edifices." — Whereas 
the walls of the former (when I was there, about 
two years after this description was published, for 
the satisfactiou of the good Citizens of London, as 
to the existing state of things in Canada) were 
raised at least one story and a half high, and may 

perhaps, be fairly roofed in, by this time But 

the latter is literally — a Castle in the air, not a 
shovel full of earth having been then dug towards 
its foundation. 

This magnificent work, however, besides being 
embellished with Views, and illustrated by Plots 
and Plans, is accompanied with a General Map of 
North America — from Lake Winnipeegtothe Island 
of Newfoundland, and from Hudson's Bay to th& 
City of Washington ; which is, perhaps, the most 
accurate, and certainly is the most elegant, repre- 
sentation of the innumerable Lakes and Rivers, 
contained within that circle, that has ever been de- 
lineated. 

This beautiful Map is concentrated into two 
sheets : but there is another exhibition of Upper 
and Lower Canada, including the Provinces of 
New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and tlie adja- 
cent parts of the United States, which is diffused 
over ten sheets of super Royal, on a scale large 
B b 



Xll 



enough to bring out every cross road ; to swell the 
sides of every particular mountain ; and to trace the 
limits of every individual settlement, upon the 
long extended frontier between two jealous Nations. 
The motives for taking this bird's eye view of dis- 
puted boundaries, may be, at least, problemati- 
cal : but the execution of it does infinite credit to 
the talents of " his Majesty's Surveyor General," 
as a draughtsman, and topographer. 



No. III. 



THE LEAGUE OF THE IROQUOIS OR FIVE 
ISATIONS OF THE WEST. 

The justly celebrated Confederacy of Five Na- 
tions, which existed, in the heart of the New Conti- 
nent, when the first Migrators landed from Europe, 
was a powerful league, which had existed for ages, 
like that of the States of Holland, or the ancient 
repubhcs of Greece; for the purpose of mutual 
defence, against powerful Neighbours ; but without 
impairing the independent jurisdiction of any of 
its Members. 

It affords a striking parallel to that potent and 
wide spread Confederation, which has since taken 



XIU 

place, among the succeeding Occupants of the same 
rich and well watered Territory ; which is adapt- 
ed, in an unexampled degree, to carry to their 
utmost limits, the active energies of civilized 
Man. 

This aboriginal Association, which is entitled to 
more respectful notice, than has ever yet been al- 
lotted to it, in American History : but to which 
ample, though tardy, justice will be done by our 
future Poets and Historians (May it not be when 
too late to trace the features of their character, with 
the precision of which the interesting subject is yet 
susceptible !) then consisted of the Mohawks, the 
Oneidas, the Onondagoes, the Cayugas, and the 
Sennekaas. 

Of these, the Mohawks, then situated on the fertile 
banks of the river which still bears their name, were 
considered as the chief Nation, or Tribe ; but the 
great Council of the Confederacy assembled annu- 
ally at Onondaga (I have myself seen the great Wig 
Wam, sixty or eighty feet in length, in which was 
kindled the council fire, before the dereliction of 
National Sovereignty, to the Congress of the Unit- 
ed States, had dissolved the aboriginal union) oh 
account of the central situation of that place, which 
rendered it convenient for the assembling of the 
confederated Tribes. [See Clinton's Discourse oh 
the Red Men of America, delivered before the 
New- York Historical Society, in 1811.] 



XIV 



Of. this powerful league, which is supposed to 
have once extended the terror of its arms, from the 
Gulf of Mexico, to Hudson's Bay, the Sennekaas 
ai'e the only Tribe that is now numerous enough 
to be of any political importance. Tliey are yet 
to be found, in large bodies, upon the eastern banks 
of Lake Erie ; where the curious Traveller may 
still witness, at their occasional councils, all the 
striking peculiarities of the Indian character. 

An old War Chief, called Jhe Farmer's Brother, 
whose person and features are stamped with all 
the hardihood of Antiquity, is yet living ; and the 
Chief Speaker, vulgarly called Red Jacket ; but 
in his own tongue, with appropriate qualification, 
Tsekuyeaathaw, the Man that keeps you awake, 
may still be heard, occasionally, delivering orations 
that Cicero or Demosthenes would have listened 
to with delight. I have myself heard this native 
Orator speak, for hours together, at one of the last 
public treaties, that was held with this Tribe. His 
discourse was then taken in short hand. It was 
upon local policy, and therefore is now forgotten, 
though it went through the newspapers of the day ; 
but some of his speeches, in reply to the soUcitations 
of difl'erent Missionaries to the Sennekaa Tribe, to 
change the ReUgion of their Fathers, for the 
Christian Creed, have been often reprinted in our 
periodical PubUcations, and can only be read with 



XV 



astonishment. — They elevate the untutored Indian 
far above Popes' elegant apology for that supposed 
ignorance, and imbecility, with which self-compla- 
cent Europeans have been pleased to designate the 
wild Man of America. 

When Father Charlevoix, a learned Jesuit, first 
assisted, as the French say, at an Indian Council 
(for the gift of eloquence was not confined to the 
Orators of the Five Nations) he could not believe 
that the Jesuit, who acted as Interpreter, was not 
imposing upon the Audience, the effusions of his own 
brilliant imagination. 

Yet Charlevoix had been accustomed to the ora- 
tions of Masillon, and Bourdaloue ; when those emi- 
nent Orators displayed all the powers of pulpit elo- 
quence, at the funerals of Princes, upon the fertile 
subject of the vanity of life; but he confesses that 
he had never heard any thing so interesting, as the 
extempore discourses of an Indian Chief. 

Even those who have had the enviable privilege 
of listening, in the British House of Commons, to 

The popular harangue, the tart reply, 
The logic, and the wisdom, and the wit, 

that flowed, spontaneous, from Barke, and Sheri- 
dan, and Fox, and Pitt, during the most splendid 
period of British oratory, have freely acknowledged, 



XVI 



that they never heard any thing more impressive, 
tlian an Indian speech ; accompanied, a? it usually 
isjwith all the graces of unconstrained delivery . 



J. k. J. HARPER, TRINTEHS. 







§i 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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